Hospital waiting list tops 800,000 for first time

Hospital waiting times have hit record levels in Wales again, with the list passing the 800,000 mark for the first time.

The total number of patient pathways, as they are referred to, rose by more than 3,500 in August to 800,163.

The actual number of patients waiting, as some are on more than one list, hit 619,200 - another record.

The increase for the seventh month in a row comes as Health Secretary Jeremy Miles announced £28m to help cut the longest waiting times, which he called "not acceptable".

Those waiting the longest continues to rise - more than 169,609 of more than a year and 24,193 of more than two years.

That means more than 23% of waits are more than a year in Wales, while in England, the proportion is 3.7% when comparative specialisms are analysed.

NHS England all-but eradicated its two-year waits 18 months ago and the new funding for Wales will pay for more evening and weekend appointments and regional working to target waiting times in the hardest-hit specialties, such as orthopaedics, ophthalmology, general surgery and gynaecology.

"The NHS is working very hard to reduce the backlog, which built up during the pandemic – this is additional funding, over and above the recovery money we make available every year, to support the NHS to cut the longest waits and improve access to planned care," said Miles.

Overall, waiting times worsened across most key measures - ambulance response times, A&E waits and those waiting more than a year for a first outpatient appointment.

Only the waiting time measure to start cancer treatment showed a slight improvement, although it is still way off target.

Miles told the BBC: "There are some positive signs in the figures this month, but overall the picture is not acceptable.”

He said the new money would help the NHS "get to grips" with some of the most persistent backlogs.

The minister said he wanted to make sure the NHS met all its targets.

Cancer charity Macmillan said specific plans to reduce cancer waiting times were "noticeably absent" from Thursday's funding announcement.

"This is simply not good enough and requires urgent action," said spokeswoman Sarah Christie.

"There are real people behind the figures released today and far too many continue to suffer agonising long waits for the cancer diagnosis and the essential treatment they need."

The Welsh NHS Confederation welcomed the funding and said health boards would work hard to meet the conditions attached to it and "do all they can to help bring down the longest waits".

But the Conservatives said waiting lists continued to soar and Labour was a party of "broken promises."

Spokesman Sam Rowlands said: "Crucially, any cash won’t be coupled with the vital reforms or long-term thinking we need to bear down on these excessive waits."

Plaid Cymru health spokesman Mabon ap Gwynfor said: “Last month we heard a ‘plan’ from the Labour conference that a ‘cross-border partnership’ would support the bringing down of waiting lists – an idea that has been proven to be nothing but an unsubstantiated press-release."

He said growing waiting lists were a "repeating occurrence, month after month".