‘We cannot continue to watch our NHS failing,’ call from Welsh medical council

More money needs to be directed into frontline services to move away from record-breaking NHS waiting lists in Wales, the British Medical Association Welsh Council has said.

This follows 33 health and social care organisations writing to First Minister Mark Drakeford calling on him to take action over workforce shortages.

The joint letter – calling for the long-awaited publication of the national workforce implementation plan for health and care – comes following the release of the most recent waiting times figures for Wales.

Responding to the latest NHS performance data, Dr Iona Collins, Chair British Medical Association Welsh Council, said: “I speak on behalf of doctors in Wales when I say, quite simply, that these figures are not good enough.

“Welsh Government has already provided health boards with additional funds, specifically to address the additional waiting list backlog, but the funds are not enough, with health boards over-spending on their budgets while trying their best to reduce the waiting lists. 

“More money needs to be directed into frontline NHS services, so we can move away from record-breaking waiting lists for both emergency and scheduled NHS care.

“Our NHS requires frontline staff and resources to deliver the care that we need when we are ill.

“We need to acknowledge and rectify the lack of resources in the Welsh NHS in comparison to healthcare services elsewhere.

“We need to accept that the number of frontline staff vacancies is driving up the demand for agency ad-hoc cover as a permanent fire-fighting tactic and we need to address this workforce shortage, initially by gathering data to assess the true extent of the problem.

“BMA Cymru is calling for more action to be taken urgently. We cannot continue to watch our NHS failing and patients’ health deteriorating, as reflected by [the] figures. When staffing and resource deficits are corrected, patients in Wales will get the care they deserve.”