Health Minister Vaughan Gething has responded to the latest NHS performance statistics published today.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething said:
“The latest NHS Wales performance figures show improvements across the board in waiting times for scheduled care, some of the best we’ve seen for many years. I’m pleased to see our investment in cutting some of the longest waiting times is delivering results.
Referral to treatment performance for March was the best for 6 years and 3 health boards had no patients waiting over 36 weeks. The number of patients waiting more than 14 weeks for therapy were the lowest for 10 years and 6 health boards reported no-one waiting over 14 weeks. 3 health boards had no-one waiting more than 8-weeks for diagnostics and waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services also improved.
I am pleased to see a 10% decrease in delayed transfers of care compared to last month and 8.5% compared to last year. There is more to be done in this area and we are developing new ways of supporting people to leave hospitals for the community when they’re ready.
It was another very busy month for Emergency Department staff - the busiest on record for an April – with a 6% increase in activity on April 2018. More people spent fewer than 4 hours in departments than April last year but we are disappointed by performance at a number of sites and have taken immediate action to support improvement. The Welsh Ambulance Service again surpassed the target despite a rise in emergency calls compared to last month.
We are investing record levels in our NHS, and have been clear with health boards about the need to deliver improvements in performance quickly.”