Betsi Cadwaladr chair says longest NHS waits to end by 2026
In December, First Minister Eluned Morgan pledged to cut the number of patients in Wales waiting two years or more for planned treatments, from 24,000 to "about 8,000" by this spring. Opposition parties said the March figures showed that target had been missed.
On Wednesday, Mr Edwards told Newyddion S4C: "We're facing a capacity situation - that's the central question. "By the end of the end of this calendar year I'm fairly confident that no one will be waiting more than two years for treatment within this health board."Speaking in the Senedd earlier this week, Health Secretary Jeremy Miles confirmed that Swansea Bay, Hywel Dda, and Powys health boards had no patients waiting more than two years.But he said Cardiff and the Vale and Betsi Cadwaladr had missed their targets.Miles told MSs: "The problem is most acute in north Wales, where from this week, Welsh government officials will work alongside health board staff themselves to focus on turning around its planned care position."I expect the health board to meet its plans to significantly reduce long waits by the end of the first quarter of this year."The Welsh Conservatives have been calling for a public inquiry into the health board which was first placed in special measures in June 2015 and is still under Welsh the highest level of Welsh government scrutiny.
'Hold our hand'
Newyddion S4C asked Mr Edwards when he expected that to be lowered."Our focus is on improving the health board itself, and the health and wellbeing provision for north Wales," he said."I think that coming out of special measures will be a by-product of the success of the health board."When asked about the target of cutting the two-year waiting list for treatment, he added: "We're facing a capacity situation - that's the central question. "By the end of this calendar year I'm fairly confident that no-one will be waiting more than two years for treatment within this health board."On the health secretary's announcement that government officials were working alongside health board staff to focus on turning around its planned care position, he explained that the officials are there "to look at what steps we're taking, to understand some of the challenges that we're facing, and sometimes to hold our hand while we're doing the work"."I think we've shown government officials that we're on the right track. "Sometimes the government need that reassurance and there's nothing better than coming in to see for yourself, to get that evidence, and I think that's what they've done this past week."
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Sky News
30 minutes ago
- Sky News
What does the data tell us about road traffic accidents?
Under "tougher" plans to tackle road deaths and injuries in England and Wales, the government has announced measures to make over-70s take compulsory eye tests every three years or lose their licence. But are they really needed? Drivers over the age of 70 already self-report their medical fitness to drive every three years, and British roads are safer now than they've ever been. In 2023, the latest year for which the Department for Transport has published data, the casualty rate on British roads fell to 398 per billion vehicle miles. It's the first time that figure has been under 400, and has halved since just 2006. In 1960, the casualty rate was 10 times higher than it is now. The total number of people killed on the UK's roads also reached a record low in 2023, other than the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021. There were 1,624 people killed in total, just under half of which were in cars. This figure has plateaued somewhat since 2010, however, after rapid improvements between 2006 and 2010. There was a similar plateau between 1994 and 2006 before the last significant piece of road safety legislation was introduced. The 2006 Road Safety Act introduced higher fines and more points for the most severe speeding offences, as well as greatly expanding the use of speed awareness courses. It was also the first year people could get points on their licence for using their phone. In the four years that followed, there was a 40% decrease in deaths among road users. In the 13 years since then, it's fallen just 12%. There had been a slight rise in deaths among older drivers for a few years between 2014 and 2019, but that has started to fall again now. There are now fewer deaths among over-70s compared with either the under-30s, people aged 30-49, or those between 50 and 69. In 2019, there were a similar number of deaths among people of each of these age cohorts. Academic studies have previously found that older people are also more likely to develop symptoms of depression, be admitted to care facilities, and even have a higher mortality rate, once they stop driving. The academics found that those links remained even after adjusting for other factors like baseline health and cognitive ability. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: "It is certainly good for our eye health as we age to have a regular eye test - every two years the NHS advises - but this doesn't automatically mean that a compulsory eye test at age 70 is appropriate. People can develop eye problems at any age so why confine such an approach only to those aged 70 and not to younger drivers too? "From the data we have seen, there is no reason to suppose that eye problems lie behind a significant proportion of accidents. While there may be a case for introducing a regular mandatory eye test for drivers of all ages, it is not clear that this would have a big impact on the numbers of serious accidents involving older drivers." Are younger drivers a danger to themselves? Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association, said that the government's strategy is "much overdue", while pointing to the figures showing that the number of road deaths have plateaued since 2010. He said that making vision checks compulsory for older drivers was a "practical step that can make a real difference", but added that failing to introduce a six-month limit on new drivers transporting passengers of a similar age is "a major oversight". A limit like this has been active in parts of Australia since 2007. Research by road safety charity Brake says that, in the UK, around one in five drivers crash within a year of passing their test. The Department for Transport data also shows that younger people are also significantly more likely to die as passengers compared to people in other age groups. There has also been a suggestion that younger drivers are more likely to die as a result of not wearing seatbelts. More than a third of 17-29-year-olds who die on the roads didn't have their seatbelts on. But the same is true of 30-59 year olds. There is a significant difference between men and women however - 31% of men who died did so without wearing a seatbelt, compared with just 11% of women. That also means that 89% of women who died on the roads did so despite wearing a seatbelt, perhaps adding to evidence that suggests that seatbelts offer better protection to adult men. Drink driving Since 2014, Scotland has had a lower drink drive limit than the rest of the UK. The government's new proposals would reduce the drink-drive limit in England and Wales to the same level as in Scotland - 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, instead of the current level of 80mg of alcohol. For an average-sized man, that means they would be over the limit after one pint of beer, instead of after two. In diverging from the other nations in the UK, the new standards in Scotland aligned with most of Europe. It seems to have had some impact. The number of collisions involving drink drivers has fallen by more than 40% in Scotland since it was introduced, compared with 20% in England over the same time period, and 38% in Wales. The improvement is less pronounced when it comes to the most serious drink-driving road accidents, though. They are down just 7% since 2014. Where are the safest, and most dangerous, places to drive? The Isle of Wight has the highest current fatality rate, after accounting for how much driving people do. There were 18 deaths per billion vehicle miles on the island in 2023. Next was Blackpool, with 16. The central London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Lambeth were the only other local authorities with a rate higher than 10. At the other end of the scale, Stockport (Greater Manchester), Thurrock (Essex) and Nottingham each had fewer than one death per billion vehicle miles. When it comes to accidents that included not just deaths but also serious injuries, London has the worst record. Drivers in Westminster were most likely to end up in a serious collision, but the nine most dangerous local authorities in Great Britain were all London boroughs. Bradford completed the bottom 10. Bath and North East Somerset was the safest area, although three Welsh areas - Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Cardiff - joined South Gloucestershire in the top five. Scottish drivers were among the most likely to avoid being in crashes altogether. Eight of the 10 local authorities with the lowest overall collision rate were north of the border, although Rutland in the East Midlands had the lowest overall rate. The top 20 areas with the most collisions per mile driven were all in London. How does driving in the UK compare with other countries? The UK is one of the safest places to drive in Europe. Only Norway and Sweden had a lower rate of road deaths per head of population in 2023 than the UK's 25 deaths per million people. The figures in places like Italy, Greece and Portugal were more than twice as high. There aren't any directly comparable figures for 2023 for the US, but in 2022 their death rate from driving was five times as high as the UK, and 50% higher than the worst performing European country - Bulgaria. The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Wes Streeting issues 'don't strike' appeal to NHS staff before crunch union talks
Nurses and other NHS staff have seen their 3.6% pay rise this year swallowed up by inflation - Health Secretary Wes Streeting explains why they should accept it Wes Streeting has started crunch talks with unions and issued a direct appeal to NHS staff to reject strikes. Inflation has since swallowed up any real terms increase for 2025/26 and unions are demanding urgent reforms to boost working conditions and speed up career progression to avoid walkouts. The Health Secretary met with the ambulance workers' union yesterday after the bulk of the NHS workforce rejected a 3.6% pay rise. GMB negotiators came out saying talks had been "positive" but warned other NHS staff "need to be invested in - not just the doctors". Other NHS unions have been angered after resident doctors, who staged a five-day strike last month, got a 5.4% deal. 'I'm a doctor and can earn £10k more a month after quitting NHS for Australia' Speaking to the Mirror, Mr Streeting said: 'I've spent a lot of time shadowing ambulance crews on the frontline and they've got a really challenging job. I know that crews are concerned about their pay, conditions and career progression. 'I'm absolutely committed to working constructively with the trade unions. The advantage of having a Labour government is that we work constructively on our industrial relations. We want a genuine partnership with a workforce. We don't want to be at loggerheads in the way that our conservative predecessors were and it does require a bit of give and take.' The Treasury has said it cannot improve on the headline pay deal but Mr Streeting is starting a period of intense negotiations with health unions in an attempt to offer them enough other perks to stop them striking later this year. Unions also want commitments to above inflation deals over the rest of the parliament. It comes as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation is 3.6% and the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure - which includes mortgage costs - is 4.4%. Unions representing most workers on the main NHS contract - Unison, the Royal College of Nursing, Unite and GMB - have opposed this year's 3.6% pay award. Resident doctors were awarded 5.4% and their union, the British Medical Association (BMA), had already balloted for strikes and has a mandate for doctors to stage walk-outs until January. Mr Streeting has since met the Royal College of Nursing and joked yesterday during a visit to University College Hospital in north London that General Secretary Nicola Ranger had been "banging my head" on issues around career progression and pay. He will meet the Unite union in the next fortnight. Mr Streeting said: 'One of the things I have been saying to the doctors is, 'I've got to make sure that their careers in the NHS improve, but I've got a responsibility to other NHS staff too'. I've got a responsibility to the whole 1.5 million strong workforce. 'So we've been having good discussions, not just with the BMA, but more constructively with the Royal College of Nursing, Unison, GMB, who I'll meet today, and soon with Unite. I do want to work constructively with the trade unions, because I genuinely think if we improve the conditions, the recruitment, the retention of staff, we'll be improving the lives of patients. 'Because the Labour government is putting in place the resources and the reform the NHS needs, but we can't do it alone. I'm relying on 1.5 million brilliant people who work in the NHS.' It came on the day Mr Streeting announced a "graduate guarantee" for nurses and midwives helping them get a job after they get qualified. NHS providers will be able to begin recruiting before vacancies formally arise, based on demand projections, to stop a situation where many newly qualified nurses can't get a job. NHS staff on the main Agenda for Change contract - which excludes doctors and dentists - have been awarded a 3.6% increase for 2025/26. This uplift was recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) based on evidence submitted by the government, employers and unions. However unions have questioned the impartiality of the pay review body. The GMB is looking for a commitment to restore real-terms pay lost during 15 years over Tory rule over the next two parliaments. They are calling for ambulance workers to get a similar early retirement age to other first-responders, police and firefighters. The union is calling for lower paid hospital staff to have their salaries increased to the UK Living Wage and says all NHS staff must be exempt from hospital parking charges. Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said: 'We had a positive meeting with the Health Secretary today. We raised issues from the frontline - members feeling undervalued and demoralised. 'GMB priorities are restorative pay and we need to see Government commit to this. There are fixes that Government can do now to help workers on the ground feel the changes. Agenda for Change staff need to be invested in, not just the doctors. Wes said they are looking to invest in the Agenda for Change contract reforms and seeing where more money can be found for this.'
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Three new cancer drugs approved for use for NHS Scotland
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved the drug brentuximab vedotin, also known as Adcetris, which can be used together with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for adult patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma – an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system. (Image: Image from PA) SMC vice chair Graeme Bryson said the treatment could 'help increase how long people with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma have before their cancer gets worse'. Meanwhile, zanubrutinib, also known as Brukinsa, was accepted to treat adults with mantle cell lymphoma – a rare type of the blood cancer non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The SMC has also approved the drug ripretinib – also known as Qinlock – to treat adults with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumours, which are a rare type of cancer of the digestive system. In addition to these drugs it has agreed the NHS can use mirikizumab, also known as Omvoh, for adults with Crohn's disease, a lifelong condition which is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. READ NEXT: Rock band to play huge headline show in Glasgow Graeme Bryson said: 'The committee is pleased to be able to accept these new medicines for use by NHS Scotland. 'Brentuximab vedotin, used together with chemotherapy, could help increase how long people with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma have before their cancer gets worse. 'Ripretinib provides a fourth-line treatment for advanced gastro-intestinal stromal tumours where currently there is no standard treatment available. 'Zanubrutinib offers an additional oral targeted treatment option for patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have already received one or more lines of treatment. 'Mirikizumab offers an additional treatment option for people with moderate to severe Crohn's disease whose disease is not controlled on standard or biologic treatment.' READ NEXT: Two teens nicked after 'DPD van chased' through streets by cops However, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) said it could not approve a new treatment for patients with the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) because of a lack of evidence around its cost-effectiveness. It also rejected the drug dupilumab, also known as Dupixent, as a treatment on the NHS for adults with COPD that is controlled on current standard treatments. Bryson said: 'The committee was unable to accept dupilumab for treating patients with COPD as the company's evidence around the cost-effectiveness of the treatment was not sufficient. We would welcome a resubmission from the company.' Joseph Carter, head of the charity Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, added: 'If the cost effectiveness of dupilumab for use by NHS Scotland can be improved, we are hopeful that the Scottish Medicines Consortium will revisit its decision. 'With an estimated 241,000 people living with COPD in Scotland, there is hope that this drug could help guide research for other targeted therapies. 'More lung research is desperately needed to enable a breakthrough to help better control or even cure COPD.'
