The number of people waiting for treatment on the NHS in Wales has increased for the second month in a row, after falling for five consecutive months.
New data published today shows that there are 743,300 patient pathways waiting for treatment on the NHS in April, an increase from 734,700 the previous month. The number of patient pathways is not the same as the number of individual patients as some people have more than one pathway open.
It is estimated that it amounts to around 582,000 individual patients waiting for treatment in Wales, amounting to around 18% of the population of Wales. This was an increase of 6,000 patients in March. According to the NHS Wales Chief Executive, these figures must be seen in the context of continued high demand following the pandemic, where less people sought treatment for medical problems.
