Latest figures show the number of patients waiting over 36 weeks within BCUHB for treatment now stands at 9,526 – more than twice that of June 2015, when the figure stood at 4,218.

Janet Finch-Saunders AM said:

“It is utterly appalling that these figures have more than doubled since the Board was taken into Special Measures by the Welsh Labour Government in June 2015.

“The Cabinet Secretary has pledged to half the number of patients waiting so long by next month, but we are seeing little progress on the ground.

“Even halving this figure would not bring it down what it was pre-Special Measures!

“The Welsh Government, First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary need to take responsibility for these utterly dismal figures. Each number represents a patient waiting anxiously, often in urgent pain and distress, and being forced to wait 9 months or more is simply unacceptable.”

ENDS

Notes:

41% of those waiting more than 36 were waiting for Trauma and Orthopaedics treatment – where waiting times have been prominent in the media, as patients have waited over two years for treatment.

Figures taken from StatsWales – available here: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Health-and-Social-Care/NHS-Hospital-Waiting-Times/Referral-to-Treatment/patientpathwayswaitingtostarttreatment-by-month-groupedweeks

The Member raised this in First Minster’s Questions today – 06-02-2018. Video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oxlJr_GMCI