4 days ago
More than 1,000 patients spent longer than 12 hours in A&E
The figures were released by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) and fall "well short" of the Welsh Government's target of zero.
The latest statistics also revealed that seven per cent of patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E.
A spokesperson for the health board said the area had some of the lowest percentage of patients with long waits to be seen in an Emergency Department across Wales.
But the figures were criticised by Senedd member for Monmouth, Peter Fox. He said: "Once again, these statistics make for some very grim reading.
"We continue to read of stories from patients who have poor experiences in our hospitals, and my inbox is full of the same.
"I have always said, and will continue to advocate, that this is not the fault of our outstanding doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals.
"They go above and beyond to provide for our residents. They are being let down by those in charge.
"The Welsh Labour Government must get a grip of their systemic failure."
Last autumn Wales First Minister Eluned Morgan said she wanted the number of people waiting for more than two years from referral to treatment to be reduced to "around" 8,000 by the spring, and recent figures show that target was broadly met.
The statistics also revealed that NHS waiting lists remained at 790,020 pathways across Wales, which is the equivalent of nearly one in four people in Wales. The number of patient pathways decreased from 793,900 in February to 790,020 in March. A pathway represents a wait for treatment, so one patient can be on more than one pathway, for example if they have been referred to different departments for different ailments.
Though the 'two-year waits' across Wales have fallen, there remain 269 in the ABUHB area, compared to just 147 across the entirety of England, who have a population of over 57 million.
Mr Fox has called on the Welsh Government to urgently address this systemic failure, and to provide the improved service the people of Wales deserve.
He added: "Only the Welsh Conservatives have a plan to fix Wales. Labour has broken our Welsh NHS, we will fix it."
Wales' health minister Jeremy Miles said: "The latest NHS performance figures show long waiting times are now at their lowest levels since April 2021 and the overall size of the waiting list has fallen for four months in a row.
"There are now just under 8,400 people waiting more than two years
"I would particularly like to praise Swansea Bay and Hywel Dda university health boards which have joined Powys Health Board in having no patients waiting more than a year for a first outpatient appointment or two years for treatment."
A spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: 'Our staff have worked very hard over recent years to reduce waiting times across all of our services. We continue to see incremental improvement in the number of patients waiting for care. Out of the 25 services we provide; 5 services have zero waits over 52 weeks and only 4 services have patients with waits over 104 weeks.
'The health board continues to report some of the lowest percentage of patients with long waits to be seen in an Emergency Department across Wales. We are actively continuing an improvement programme which includes recent investments in a new Transfer Lounge to support timelier care, an extended Emergency Department waiting room to improve patient experience and reduce waits due to increased assessment space, and additional consultant capacity to ensure rapid senior assessment and treatment.
'Patients on our waiting lists are not just numbers to us; every one of them is an individual whose life is being affected by having to wait. Our staff are continuing to do everything they can to reduce our waiting times and to prioritise the most clinically urgent cases.
'It's important to recognise that these challenges are not unique to any one Health Board; we are currently experiencing these issues right across NHS Wales and in other parts of the UK.'
