Extra £50m to reduce NHS wait times for surgery and diagnostics

A NEW drive to cut waiting-list times in the Welsh NHS is to be bolstered with an extra £50m.

The Welsh Government cash is aimed at reducing waits for prearranged surgery, diagnostics and specialist therapies.

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said the cash, which will come from government reserves, will help the NHS deal with extra demand.

Mr Gething said: “The demand on the NHS in Wales, as well as across the UK, continues to grow. This places additional pressures on the service to deliver timely care for patients.”

The £50m, which is for the current financial year, is less than 1% of the overall £7.3bn Welsh Government health, wellbeing and sport budget.

The Health Secretary added: “While I expect health boards to plan and deliver sustainable services that meet the needs of their local populations, the £50m investment I’m announcing will help NHS Wales deal with the extra demand by further reducing waitingtimes in key areas – such as elective surgery, diagnostics and therapies.”

Referrals to hospital-based services have increased from 1.07m in the 12 months ending March 2013 to 1.27m in 12 months ending in 2016, according to the Welsh Government. The number of people who had been waiting more than eight weeks for diagnostics services stood at 7,252 in May, down from 24,952 in May 2014. But in May 2010, that figure was much lower, at 2,588.

The number of people waiting more than 36 weeks from a GP referral to treatment stood at 12,354 in March 2017. The Welsh Government said this was down from 28,654 in August 2015.