NHS WAITING LISTS ARE ‘NOT STATISTICS TO CELEBRATE BY ANY MEASURE’ – Mabon ap Gwynfor MS Labour Welsh Government falling ‘woefully short’ on own 2 year waiting list targets

NHS WAITING LISTS ARE ‘NOT STATISTICS TO CELEBRATE BY ANY MEASURE’ – Mabon ap Gwynfor MS
Labour Welsh Government falling ‘woefully short’ on own 2 year waiting list targets

Despite a small decrease in NHS waiting list figures published today, the NHS activity and performance report for February and March 2025 show that in February, when there were just over 793,900 open patient pathways, there were about 614,200 individual patients on treatment waiting lists in Wales.

The data also suggests that the Labour Welsh Government are set to miss their target of bringing two year waiting lists down to 8000 by Spring 2025, with nearly 16000 pathways still waiting over two years. This comes following repeated missed targets set in the Welsh Government’s planned care recovery plan, aiming to eliminate two year waiting lists originally by March 2023.

While the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care has said he is ‘very happy’, Plaid Cymru have responded to the figures stating that ‘these are not statistics to celebrate by any measure.’

Responding to the waiting list data for February and March 2025, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, Plaid Cymru spokesperson on Health and Care said:

"Despite seeing a small decrease today, these are not statistics to celebrate by any measure. Over one in five of the population is on a waiting list, over fifteen thousand people are waiting more than two years, and only 60% of cancer patients are seen within the recommended time. Any improvements in the dire statistics are of course welcomed, but let’s not pretend that things are good, or anywhere near as they should be.

“On their own targets, the Welsh Labour Government are falling woefully short. Last year, the First Minister said she’d bring down two year waits down to 8,000 by Spring 2025 - these figures show 15,500 pathways still on waiting lists, near enough double the amount they said they’d bring them down to by now. And let’s not forget that the original target set in the planned care recovery plan was to eliminate these waits entirely by March 2023.

“With goal posts constantly being moved when targets are missed, and after years of throwing more and more money at ever-lengthening waiting lists, it’s clear Labour have no plan and no credible hope of bringing down waiting lists as fast as they promised. People are seeing their families suffer in pain, and often the indignities associated with those health issues. People’s mental health is suffering as a consequence, and unbearable pressure is being put on the hardworking workforce. It’s no wonder that the people of Wales are rightly losing trust in Labour’s ability to get our NHS back on a sustainable footing.

"A Plaid Cymru government will take immediate action on day one to get to grips with waiting lists, to get people seen and treated, and take bold longer-term measures to change how the NHS is run for the better. Only Plaid Cymru has the vision and plans to give our NHS the fresh start it needs."