Surgeons call for action to tackle ‘unacceptably high’ waiting lists
WALES has “unacceptably high” waiting times for hospital treatment says the Royal College of Surgeons, with almost 450,000 people now waiting for surgery.
The RCS say this is the equivalent of one in seven people – or the entire urban population of Cardiff.
In its report, The State of Surgery in Wales, the RCS warns the high waiting times in Wales need to be tackled urgently.
It says: “The number of patients waiting over 26 weeks for surgery has increased by over 70% since September 2011.”
The report shows Wales is leading the way with some ground-breaking advances in surgery and championing surgical excellence. But it also highlights the pressure the NHS in Wales is under.
Tim Havard, RCS director of professional affairs for Wales and a con- sultant general surgeon, said: “The Welsh health service is now treating more patients than ever before. This must be celebrated. More people are living longer as a result of the care they receive and the recently-published National Survey for Wales shows people have a high level of satisfaction with the NHS.
“There are also many surgical innovations happening in Wales we should be proud of. But much more needs to be done to tackle deteriorating waiting times in Wales. The 26 and 36-week planned surgery targets are not being met. Instances of patients waiting over a year for knee surgery should not be tolerated.
“While there have been a number of important initiatives from the Welsh Government such as ‘prudent healthcare,’ addressing the need to avoid unnecessary treatment, demand continues to grow.
“Many of the causes of high waiting times are complex and will not be solved overnight, but the focus given to tackling high waiting times in heart surgery demonstrates the NHS can improve access when made a priority. Policies aimed at tackling waiting lists should be a priority for all political party manifestos ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections.”
In July 2013 the RCS raised concerns following the publication of figures showing a large number of patients were dying while waiting for elective cardiac surgery under Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. At the time, 279 patients were waiting longer than the Government target of 26 weeks. Following this, the Welsh NHS successfully reduced waiting times for heart surgery, and as of September this year, only 42 patients are now waiting over the target.
Mr Havard said: “As part of the solution to tackling waiting times, the health service must also change and improve the way it provides services. The Welsh Government has rightly prioritised the reconfiguration of services but in many places service change is still far too slow.
“For example, we know there is wide variation in mortality from emergency surgery, but improvements to emergency care have been deprioritised in recent years in the face of more immediate challenges including financial problems.”
The report’s other recommendations include:
Critical care bed capacity needs to increase. A Welsh Government report shows Wales has the lowest number of critical care beds in Europe;
The collection and publication of data needs to dramatically improve, including the publication of surgical unit outcomes data.
The Welsh Government said the increasing ageing population and people’s lifestyle choices are adding “significant” extra demands on NHS services. A spokesman said: “We recognise that waiting times in Wales are too long at present.
“To tackle this, we have launched the Planned Care Programme to transform the way that services are delivered.
“We’re pleased the RCS report recognises people in Wales are living longer thanks to the care they receive from the Welsh NHS, which is treating more patients than ever before.
“This government’s top priority is the NHS. Thanks to our record level of investment in the NHS, today, eight out of 10 patients are waiting less than 26 weeks for treatment, while the average wait at the end of September was just under 11 weeks.”