Wait times soar for Labour’s Welsh NHS

THE number of people waiting more than a year for an operation in Wales has risen by more than 400 per cent in the past four years.

A Freedom of Information request by the Royal College of Surgeons revealed the number waiting more than 12 months for surgery in the year ending March 2017 was 3,605. In March 2013, the figure was 699. The number of patients waiting more than a year for treatment in England – which has more than 17 times the population of Wales – was just 1,302.

Last month, the Labour- controlled Welsh government pledged £50million to tackle the problem. It emphasised that the number of people waiting 26 weeks and 36 weeks for an operation has fallen.

But the Conservatives slammed the figures. Angela Burns, Welsh shadow health secretary said: ‘The longer patients are allowed to languish on waiting lists, the more complex their needs become, and the more expensive their treatment … In the absence of a long-term strategy, the Welsh NHS is staring into an abyss.’

A Welsh government spokesman said the vast majority of patients were ‘ seen within target times’.

He added that ‘ health boards have action plans in place to reduce long waits, and earlier this month the Health Secretary announced an extra £50million to help the NHS further improve waiting times’.