Half of patients in Wales wait less than 11 weeks to start treatment, new figures show

Half of people were waiting less than 11 weeks to start treatment in Wales in January, new figures published today show.

NHS referral to treatment times for January 2016 show the average waiting time for people waiting to start treatment in the Welsh NHS in January 2016 was 10.7 weeks. This includes time spent waiting for any outpatient appointments, diagnostic tests or other procedures which may be needed before treatment starts.

The figures also show 84% of patient pathways were waiting less than 26 weeks to start treatment – up from 83.5% in December 2015.

A total of 89,024 “patient pathways” were closed during January, which means treatment had been completed or the patient no longer needed a procedure undertaken.

Meanwhile, 101,027 referrals were received for a first outpatient appointment at a health board in January 2016. There were on average more than 5,000 referrals received per working day in January 2016.

Deputy Health Minister, Vaughan Gething said:

“The Welsh NHS is treating more people than ever before. In January, on average more than 5,000 patients were referred every working day– which is more than 101,000 patients during the month.

“Despite this growing level of demand, the NHS is treating the vast majority of patients within target time, with half of those waiting for treatment waiting less than 11 weeks.

“I’m pleased to see the NHS has improved its performance in January when compared to December, with 84% of patients waiting less than 26 weeks for treatment. However, we know we need to improve performance further. That’s why we have clear plans in place to reduce waiting times by the end of March this year.”