The number of people "languishing in pain" on an NHS waiting list continues to grow in Wales, latest figures have revealed. According to Welsh Government data the number of patients awaiting planned non-urgent care hit record levels for the 24th month in a row.
In April there were 707,098 patients on the waiting list – a rise from the 701,418 recorded in March and way up on the 456,809 seen just before the pandemic hit in March 2020. More than a quarter of a million people (258,189) currently on an NHS Wales waiting list have been on it for nine months or more, up on the 253,177 recorded the month before. In comparison there were only 28,294 waiting this long in March 2020.
The Welsh Government wants 95% of patients to wait less than six months (26 weeks) and no-one to wait nine months (36 weeks) from referral to treatment. But when ministers made the decision to cancel all non-urgent outpatients and appointments to focus on Covid cases in March 2020 these waiting lists rocketed.
