Welsh NHS waiting lists have continued to rise for a year, with increases in people waiting for appointments ranging from a year to over two years. The Welsh Government had aimed to eliminate two-year waits by March 2023, but the latest data until June 2024 shows a concerning trend of growing waiting lists even during the warmer summer months when demand typically decreases. Specifically, the data reveals a 50% increase in people waiting over a year for their first appointment, now reaching 74,000 individuals.
Additionally, the number of people waiting over two years for an appointment has seen consecutive increases for the past four months, following a decline since the spring of 2022. The waiting time of over a year for an appointment has surged from 132,000 a year ago to 160,000 presently. WalesOnline asked the Welsh Government about the reasons behind this continuous rise during summer and inquired about their plans to reverse the trend and eliminate two-year waits.
In response, a Welsh Government spokeswoman emphasised that reducing waiting times remains a priority, with an average wait time of around 22 weeks this year. The government is focused on reducing the longest waiting times and aims to eliminate waits exceeding two years. They anticipate improved performance from health boards for the remainder of the year, attributing the increased waiting list size to rising referrals into planned care pathways.
Furthermore, the Welsh Government has invested £170 million annually to enhance planned care system capacity, aiming for shorter waiting times for outpatient appointments and treatments. They highlighted the significant demand for healthcare services, servicing around 2 million patients monthly in a country with a population just over 3 million. The Welsh Government defended comparisons with the NHS in England, citing a more than 4% increase in frontline NHS service funding this year, contrasting it with less than 1% in England.