Two year waits at lowest level in 4 years
The number of people waiting more than 2 years for treatment fell to the lowest level since March 2021 in June, the latest NHS figures show.
Just over 7,400 pathways were waiting more than 2 years, almost 90% lower than at the peak, and a 27.4% decrease on May.
The figures also show a reduction of more than 2,000 on the overall waiting list.
For the first time today, the Welsh Government is publishing provisional waiting times data for the following month to provide people with more up to date information. The provisional data for July indicates a slight increase in long waits but the overall trend continues downwards.
Health Secretary, Jeremy Miles, said:
It is encouraging to see the number of people waiting more than 2 years is at its lowest for more than 4 years.
And I’m pleased to see a fall in the overall waiting list too.
We expect to see some fluctuations in the number of long waits from month to month – that reflects in part the variation in the numbers of people who came onto the list 2 years ago, but I am confident there will be significant further reductions by the end of the next quarter in September, keeping us on track with our plan to bring down the longest waits.
I know health boards are working very hard to bring waits down and I can see the impact of this in the numbers of additional treatments being carried out. We need to make sure this continues over the months ahead.
The Welsh Government is supporting health boards with a £120 million plan to reduce the overall waiting list by 200,000, eliminate 2 year waits and restore the 8 week diagnostic waiting target by March 2026. Health boards have also introduced a series of measures to improve productivity and core activity.
Today’s NHS performance figures also show emergency NHS services continue to respond to very high levels of demand. In July, there were just under 101,900 attendances to all emergency departments in Wales, an average of 3,287 a day. This was the highest number on record.
The Health Secretary will be visiting Neath Port Talbot Hospital’s minor injuries unit today (Thursday 21 August) where he will be encouraging people to seek the right care from the right service.
Minor injuries units can treat people with non-life-threatening issues, such as sprains and minor burns. They can provide fast and appropriate care, helping to free up emergency department doctors and nurses to focus on more serious cases.
The latest data released today also shows there were fewer ambulance patient handover delays at emergency departments in every health board in July compared to June 2025 and a year ago.
In July, there was an 18% reduction in the time it takes for the ambulance service to transfer patients to the care of an emergency department compared with the previous month, and a fall of 36.1% compared to June 2024. Handover times are at their lowest since July 2021.
More than half of people (59.7%) were handed over to the care of emergency department staff in less than 45 minutes in July, an increase of 6.1% compared with the previous month.
The national taskforce, which has been established to reduce ambulance patient handover delays, will look to ensure these improvements are maintained.
July was the first month the new purple and red categories were introduced by the Welsh Ambulance Service for out of hospital cardiac arrest and life threatening emergencies for people at high risk of cardiac or respiratory arrest, respectively.
There were 814 purple calls, just over 2% of all calls, and 4,449 red calls, which accounted for 12.6% of all calls.
Health Secretary, Jeremy Miles, added:
I am pleased to see continued improvements in the ambulance handover times and while there was a dip in the cancer performance, this is the fifth month in a row it has been above 60%.
Ensuring people seek the right care from the right service will help support our NHS when it is under pressure. Emergency departments are open 24/7 for people with life threatening emergencies. Minor injury units provide safe and effective care, and often faster treatment, for people who have less serious injuries.
I encourage everyone to think about the care they need – an emergency department isn’t the answer for everything. If you need advice or help you can call 111 or access the 111 website.
I want to thank all the staff working in the NHS for continuing to provide the best possible care for everyone who needs it.