Sixth consecutive increase sees NHS waiting lists reach their “highest figure on record”

NHS waiting lists in Wales have reached their highest figure on record after increasing for the sixth month in a row.

New data released today shows that the number of patient pathways waiting to start treatment in August rose from 757,400 to just under 760,300.

The number of open patient pathways have increased for the sixth consecutive month despite ongoing efforts to try and reduce waiting times.

The number of patient pathways – referrals to treatment – is different to the number of individual people on waiting lists. This is because a person can be waiting for more than one treatments.

August’s figures show an estimated 593,000 individual patients on treatment waiting lists – the second highest figure on record.

The number of of patient pathways waiting less than 26 weeks decreased to 58.9 per cent in August while the number of pathways waiting longer than 36 weeks increased in August, to just over 234,000.

An estimated 27,000 pathways were waiting more than two years – a slight drop on the previous month.

Ambulance response times

Today’s figures also show a rise in demand on the Welsh Ambulance Service, which received just over 35,500 emergency calls in September.

The proportion of calls that were immediately life-threatening was 12.5 per cent, up from 11.0 per cent in August.

This is the the fifth highest on record.

The Welsh Government has a target of 65 per cent of red calls (immediately life-threatening, someone is in imminent danger of death, such as a cardiac arrest) to have a response within eight minutes.

However the number of immediately life-threatening calls receiving a response within eight minutes was just 48.7 per cent – which is the lowest since March 2023.

Emergency department waiting times

The number of patients across Wales attending an emergency department in September also rose to 92,600 – the equivalent of 3,008 attendances per day.

In September, 69.9 per cent of patients in all NHS emergency departments spent less than four hours in the department from arrival until admission, transfer or discharge.

This is below the Welsh Government target of 95 per cent of new patients spending less than four hours in A&E.

Locally 64.1 per cent of visitors at the Wrexham Maelor Emergency Department spent less than four hours between admission and discharge.

This is the best performance of North Wales’ three emergency departments – with 52.3 per cent of patients seen at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd within the target time and 54.8 at Ysbyty Gwynedd.

The Welsh Conservatives have described efforts to reduce the longest waits in Wales as “snail’s pace progress.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister, Russell George MS said: “I am disappointed to read the latest statistics out of our Labour-run Welsh NHS which show two-year waits, which only stand at 265 patients in England, are still at over 27,000 here in Wales.

“Progress has been at a snail’s pace and at this rate it will take another two and half years to eliminate them.

“Ambulance waits have worsened again meaning that you now have less than a 50/50 chance of an ambulance arriving within the target time for the most serious emergencies in Labour-run Wales.

“This is completely unacceptable and needs to be turned around fast.”

Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan, said it was crucial that the Welsh Government “develop solutions that will create an NHS that is fit for the future.”

The health minister said: “The demand on the NHS is unrelenting even before we head into winter.

“Despite this, the average wait for treatment following referral from primary care (eg GP or optometrist) is under 20 weeks, and 2.5 weeks shorter than it was the same time last year.

“I’m pleased to see that the performance against the 62-day target for cancer has improved, and the number of people waiting more than two years for treatment have fallen for the 16th month in a row.

“The Welsh Ambulance Service experienced a marked 17 per cent increase in daily ‘immediately life threatened’ calls compared to August, and the third highest on record. But over 20 per cent more of those calls got a response within eight minutes when compared to the same month last year.

“However, it is disappointing to see overall waiting lists rise again, but I have been clear with health boards that I expect to see improvement in this area, and we will continue to support them to achieve that.

“It is crucial that we develop solutions that will create an NHS that is fit for the future, despite the financial challenges that we are up against and the tough choices that will have to be made in the next months and years.”