The latest NHS statistics for Wales revealed NHS treatment waiting lists remain at 789,929 pathways, the equivalent of nearly 1-in-4 Welsh people.
Two-year NHS waits for treatment have risen again to 9,600 in Wales – an almost 15% rise from the previous month, compared with only 171 in England. The Labour Health Minister, now First Minister, Eluned Morgan promised to eliminate these waits for the last two years (by March 2023 and again by March 2024), but failed to meet these targets and still has not.
Just 50% of red calls (the most serious), received an emergency/ambulance response within the eight minute target time, down on the previous month.
The proportion of patients waiting less than four hours in Welsh emergency departments decreased to 67.1%, despite the target being 95%.
Performance against the 62-day target for patient starting cancer treatment has dropped 3% to 60.5%, well below the target of 75%.
The average (median) time patient pathways are waiting for treatment in Wales stands at 22.5 weeks, compared to 13.3 weeks in England.
The Welsh Labour Government continues to miss all of their own targets. Under Labour, propped up by Plaid Cymru, our NHS is broken.
In the Senedd today, the Welsh Conservatives called on the Welsh Government to declare a health emergency, to ensure sufficient resources and the entire apparatus of Government is focused on reducing waiting lists, given a Senior Coroner’s decision, in a recent Prevention of Future Deaths report to the First Minister, to cite the Chief Executive of NHS Wales’ calls for “a health and social care system leadership response… on a par to the Covid-19 response”.
Labour voted against the motion.
In 2019 the Welsh Labour Government declared a climate emergency. In 2021, a nature emergency was declared. It’s only right that a health emergency is declared.
Commenting after the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Secretary for Health and Social Care, James Evans MS, said:
“Labour is proving in real time that their health strategy is failing abysmally, with progress is in reverse, and waiting list statistics getting worse.
“It’s clear that shovelling taxpayers’ money at the waiting list crisis isn’t enough. We need a whole-of-government approach.
“That’s why the Welsh Conservatives continue to call for a health emergency, to ensure that resources and the efforts of the whole Government are targeted at reducing these excessive waits.”
The motion which was debated today reads:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Calls on the Welsh Government to declare a health emergency.
