Welsh Government readying plans to cut NHS Waiting times

The Welsh Government is set to reveal details of a new initiative to reduce waiting times for NHS treatment.

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles will announce plans to cut NHS waiting lists in Wales by 200,000 people, eliminate two-year waiting times for planned treatment and restore a maximum eight-week wait for tests by March 2026.

He will also set out a new “patient deal” to help people track their place on the waiting list and to crackdown on the 700,000 outpatient appointments which are missed or cancelled every year in Wales.

The government is hoping that “more efficient use” of healthcare resources will provide a significant boost to the number of people being treated in Wales.

The new “patient deal”, will be incorporated into refreshed referral to treatment guidance, to be published later this month.

Transparency

The deal will see patients gaining faster access to planned NHS care, with greater transparency about how long they can expect to wait when they are added to the list

Patients will also be able to track how long they have to wait, via the updated NHS Wales App, which will be available from June.

In addition, only people who are fit and well enough to benefit from surgery will be added to the surgical treatment waiting list – this is because evidence shows they are more likely to recover quickly.

In addition, support will be offered to help patients get into the best possible physical condition for their treatment.

As part of the clampdown on missed appointments and cancelled operations, patients will be offered two dates for an appointment – if they cannot or do not attend these, without a good reason, they will be removed from the waiting list.

Health boards will also be required to minimise the number of cancelled appointments and operations.

‘Faster access’

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said: “The NHS will do all it can to prioritise faster access to treatment. In return, we are asking the public to do all they can to prioritise and keep their appointments so, together, we make the best possible use of scarce NHS resources.

“We cannot continue losing as many as one in seven appointments because people do not turn up or cannot attend, and a further 10% which are cancelled by the NHS. These missed appointments delay care for everyone and waste valuable resources that could be helping other people.

“Evidence shows people who are in better health recover from surgery faster, have fewer complications and require shorter hospital stays. By ensuring people are properly prepared and fully informed about their treatment options, we can achieve better outcomes while making more efficient use of NHS resources.”

Responding to the plans, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for health and social care, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, said: “There has so far been no consequence for over 26 years of managed decline in our NHS by this Labour Government.

“There are currently over 600,000 people still waiting for NHS treatment in Wales. Labour have had a generation to sort out our NHS, but instead of taking accountability, they shift the blame elsewhere – while placing greater responsibility on patients and cutting prevention budgets.

“Plaid Cymru has a plan to tackle NHS waiting lists. Earlier this year we announced actions that a Plaid Cymru government would take on day one, including establishing a new executive triage system; strengthening collaboration between health boards to identify spare capacity; embracing telemedicine to speed up assessments; matching staffing levels to demand in key specialities; and creating temporary surgical hubs across Wales to get people treated faster.

“Wales – and the NHS – needs a fresh start. No more sticking plaster solutions or short-term thinking. Only Plaid Cymru has the energy, the ideas and the plans, developed in tandem with clinicians and health experts, to deliver the change our health service so desperately needs.”

Decline

The latest official data on waiting times in Wales, published last month, have shown a small decline.

Pathways for those awaiting treatment were 796,800 in February, down from just under 800,400 in January, with the Welsh Government suggesting 613,300 individual patients are currently on waiting lists.

The number of patient pathways is not the same as the number of individual patients, because some people have multiple open pathways.

Those waiting the longest for treatment decreased last month, however 21,100 patients have been waiting for more than two years.

These figures are more than two thirds (70.1%) lower than the peak during the pandemic but have remained stubbornly high despite previous pledges to eradicate them.

The proportion of patient’s waiting less than 26 weeks remained at 53.1% in January, while the number of pathways waiting longer than 36 weeks decreased in January, to just under 284,000, the third highest figure on record.

The average time patient pathways had been waiting for treatment at the end of January was 0.1 weeks lower than the previous month at 23.5 weeks.

For diagnostic services, patient pathways waiting decreased to just over 112,900 in January. The number waiting longer than eight weeks (the target maximum wait) increased to just under 43,700.