NHS performance for Welsh Local Health Boards, September 2024
Report providing a summary of NHS performance for the Welsh Local Health Boards, covering emergency department and planned care waiting times, and ambulance response.
This file may not be fully accessible.
In this page
Introduction
This quarterly statistical release provides a summary of NHS performance data for the individual Welsh local health boards. Monthly analysis for Wales as a whole is published in the accompanying NHS Activity and Performance summary, monthly data for local health board level are also available on StatsWales.
Analyses are presented here for each health board based on the established Welsh Government performance targets for unscheduled care: ambulance response and emergency department and scheduled care: outpatient appointments, diagnostics and therapies, referral to treatment (RTT) and cancer treatment. You can navigate to specific health boards using the section hyperlinks in the top left of this report.
Data in this statistical report have been provided by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) unless stated otherwise. For some measures, Powys is not comparable with the other health boards in Wales. This is because there are significant differences in the number and type of services provided in Powys compared with the other health boards.
Main points
Of the measures covered in this report, currently the only health board meeting any of the performance targets is Swansea Bay, which has no first outpatient appointments over one year. Therapies waiting over the target time are also in single figures in Swansea Bay.
For emergency ambulance or ‘red’ calls, in August Cardiff and Vale had the highest proportion of responses within 8 minutes at 55.5%. Swansea Bay had the lowest at 49.1%.
In emergency departments, Aneurin Bevan had the highest proportion of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within the 4 hour target at 77.7%, while Cardiff and Vale had the lowest at 59.8%.
Cardiff and Vale currently has the lowest number waiting longer than 12 hours in emergency departments at 925, while Betsi Cadwaladr has the highest at 3,151.
Betsi Cadwaladr had the highest proportion of RTT pathways waiting longer than one year in July, at 25.0% of pathways, whereas Swansea Bay had the lowest at 14.2% of pathways. Betsi Cadwaladr also had the highest proportion waiting longer than two years at 5.3% and Swansea Bay the lowest at 1.3%.
For first outpatient appointments, the highest proportion waiting longer than one year in July was currently in Betsi Cadwaladr at 24.3% of pathways and the lowest was in Swansea Bay where there are no pathways waiting longer than one year.
Cardiff and Vale currently has the highest proportion of diagnostic waits longer than the target time of 8 weeks at 61.3% of pathways and Powys has the lowest at 20.7%.
For therapies, Hywel Dda currently has the highest proportion waiting longer than the target of 14 weeks at 22.4% of pathways, and Powys has the lowest at less than 1%.
For cancer services, the highest proportion of patients starting treatment within 62 days from the point of suspicion is currently in Cardiff and Vale at 63.1%, and the lowest is in Cwm Taf Morgannwg at 50.4%.
Aneurin Bevan
Unscheduled care
Emergency ambulance response times
Figure 1: Percentage of red calls which received an emergency response at the scene within 8 minutes, April 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 1: A line chart showing 53.0% of calls received a response within 8 minutes in August 2024. Performance has generally deteriorated in recent years.
Source: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Emergency ambulance calls and responses to red calls, by local health board and month, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: An update to call handling in May 2019 resulted in a change to red incident volume. It is not possible to directly compare before and after this date. Further details are available in the quality information.
Emergency department attendances and admissions to hospital
Figure 2: Percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours at emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 2: A line chart showing 77.7% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours in August 2024. There is no discernible long-term trend in performance.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against 4 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Figure 3: Patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged at NHS emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 3: A line chart showing 1,175 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged in August 2024. This has generally increased in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against the 12 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Summary
For ambulance response times, Aneurin Bevan is currently similar to the Wales average. The percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours is currently better than the Wales average. The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours is still well above the performance target.
Scheduled care activity
Diagnostic and therapy waiting times
Figure 4: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 8 weeks for diagnostic tests, November 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 4: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for diagnostics tests have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: Neurophysiology data for Aneurin Bevan became available in June 2023, adding around 1,000 pathways that had not been reported previously. Neurophysiology diagnostics services were provided by Aneurin Bevan before June 2023, however those data are not available. This affects the comparability of diagnostic data for Aneurin Bevan and Wales over time.
Figure 5: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 14 weeks for therapy services, November 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 5: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for therapy services have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and have settled between 0 and 10%.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: From April 2024 audiology and weight management pathways were no longer reported in the therapies data, meaning they are not directly comparable with data up to March 2024.
Referral to treatment time
Figure 6: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 6: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 1 year rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite falling in early 2021, numbers have started to rise in the past year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 7: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 2 years to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 7: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 2 years rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite falling in early 2022, numbers have started to rise in the past year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 8: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment, April 2019 to July 2024
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Cancer services
Figure 9: Percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time, June 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 9: A line chart showing that the percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time has fluctuated over time. The latest figure for July 2024 of 55.2% is well below the performance target of 75%.
Source: Suspected Cancer Pathway, DHCW
Suspected cancer pathway (closed pathways), on StatsWales
[Note 1]: New suspected cancer pathway data collection was introduced in December 2020.
Summary
In Aneurin Bevan, performance is currently better than the overall Wales figures for diagnostic tests and therapies and similar to the overall Wales figures for RTT waiting lists. Performance is similar to the Wales average for cancer treatment waiting times, and similar to the Wales average for first outpatient appointment waits.
Betsi Cadwaladr
Emergency ambulance response times
Figure 10: Percentage of red calls which received an emergency response at the scene within 8 minutes, April 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 10: A line chart showing 52.0% of calls received a response within 8 minutes in August 2024. Performance has generally deteriorated in recent years.
Source: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Emergency ambulance calls and responses to red calls, by local health board and month, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: An update to call handling in May 2019 resulted in a change to red incident volume. It is not possible to directly compare before and after this date. Further details are available in the quality information.
Emergency department attendances and admissions to hospital
Figure 11: Percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours at emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 11: A line chart showing 67.1% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours in August 2024. There is no discernible long-term trend in performance.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against 4 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Figure 12: Patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged at NHS emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 12: A line chart showing 3151 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged in August 2024. This has generally increased in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against the 12 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Summary
For ambulance response times, Betsi Cadwaladr is currently similar to the Wales average. The percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours is currently similar to the Wales average. The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours is still well above the performance target.
Scheduled care activity
Diagnostic and therapy waiting times
Figure 13: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 8 weeks for diagnostic tests, November 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 13: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for diagnostics tests have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
Figure 14: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 14 weeks for therapy services, November 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1] [Note 2]
Description of Figure 14: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for therapy services started to fall from the peak at the start of the coronavirus pandemic but rose again in mid-2021 before starting to fall in mid-2022. Numbers have been on the rise again since mid-2023.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: In April 2020 Betsi Cadwaladr did not submit any data for therapies, please see the quality information for more information.
[Note 2]: From April 2024 audiology and weight management pathways were no longer reported in the therapies data, meaning they are not directly comparable with data up to March 2024.
Referral to treatment time
Figure 15: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 15: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 1 year rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite falling in early 2021, numbers have started to rise in the past year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 16: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 2 years to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 16: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 2 years rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite falling in early 2022, numbers have started to rise in the past year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 17: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 17: A line chart showing that the number of pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite starting to fall in early 2021, numbers have been rising in the last year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Cancer services
Figure 18: Percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time, June 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 18: a line chart showing that the percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time has fluctuated over time. The latest figure for July 2024 of 52.6% is well below the performance target of 75%.
Source: Suspected Cancer Pathway, DHCW
Suspected cancer pathway (closed pathways), on StatsWales
[Note 1]: New suspected cancer pathway data collection was introduced in December 2020.
Summary
In Betsi Cadwaladr, performance is currently better than the overall Wales figures for diagnostic tests, worse for therapies and worse than the overall Wales figures for RTT waiting lists. Performance is similar to the Wales average for cancer treatment waiting times, and worse than the Wales average for first outpatient appointment waits.
Cardiff and Vale
Unscheduled care
Emergency ambulance response times
Figure 19: Percentage of red calls which received an emergency response at the scene within 8 minutes, April 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 19: A line chart showing 55.5% of calls received a response within 8 minutes in August 2024. Performance has generally deteriorated in recent years.
Source: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Emergency ambulance calls and responses to red calls, by local health board and month, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: An update to call handling in May 2019 resulted in a change to red incident volume. It is not possible to directly compare before and after this date. Further details are available in the quality information.
Emergency department attendances and admissions to hospital
Figure 20: Percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours at emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 20: A line chart showing 59.8% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours in August 2024. There has been a downward trend in performance in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against 4 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Figure 21: Patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged at NHS emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 21: A line chart showing 925 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged in August 2024. This has varied significantly in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against the 12 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Summary
For ambulance response times, Cardiff and Vale is currently better than the Wales average. The percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours is currently worse than the Wales average. The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours is still well above the performance target.
Scheduled care activity
Diagnostic and therapy waiting times
Figure 22: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 8 weeks for diagnostic tests, November 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 22: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for diagnostics tests have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
Figure 23: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 14 weeks for therapy services, November 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 23: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for therapy services have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and have settled between 0 and 10%.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: From April 2024 audiology and weight management pathways were no longer reported in the therapies data, meaning they are not directly comparable with data up to March 2024.
Referral to treatment time
Figure 24: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 24: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 1 year rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite falling in early 2021, numbers have started to rise in the past year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 25: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 2 years to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 25: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 2 years rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Numbers have been falling since early 2022.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 26: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 26: A line chart showing that the number of pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite starting to fall in early 2021, numbers have been rising in the last year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Cancer services
Figure 27: Percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time, June 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 27: a line chart showing that the percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time has fluctuated over time. The latest figure for July 2024 of 63.1% is below the performance target of 75%.
Source: Suspected Cancer Pathway, DHCW
Suspected cancer pathway (closed pathways), on StatsWales
[Note 1]: New suspected cancer pathway data collection was introduced in December 2020.
Summary
In Cardiff and Vale, performance is currently worse than the overall Wales figures for diagnostic tests, better for therapies and similar to the overall Wales figures for RTT waiting lists. Performance is better than the Wales average for cancer treatment waiting times, and similar to the Wales average for first outpatient appointment waits.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg
Unscheduled care
Emergency ambulance response times
Figure 28: Percentage of red calls which received an emergency response at the scene within 8 minutes, April 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 28: A line chart showing 49.8% of calls received a response within 8 minutes in August 2024. Performance has generally deteriorated in recent years.
Source: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Emergency ambulance calls and responses to red calls, by local health board and month, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: An update to call handling in May 2019 resulted in a change to red incident volume. It is not possible to directly compare before and after this date. Further details are available in the quality information.
Emergency department attendances and admissions to hospital
Figure 29: Percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours at emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 29: A line chart showing 66.6% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours in August 2024. The trend has been relatively stable in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against 4 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Figure 30: Patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged at NHS emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 30: A line chart showing 1570 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged in August 2024. This has generally increased in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against the 12 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Summary
For ambulance response times, Cwm Taf Morgannwg is currently similar to the Wales average. The percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours is currently similar to the Wales average. The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours is still well above the performance target.
Scheduled care activity
Diagnostic and therapy waiting times
Figure 31: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 8 weeks for diagnostic tests, November 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 31: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for diagnostics tests have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
Figure 32: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 14 weeks for therapy services, November 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 32: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for therapy services have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and are back to pre-pandemic levels. This change disproportionately affected Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board because a very large proportion of the pathways they previously reported were in this category.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: From April 2024 audiology and weight management pathways were no longer reported in the therapies data, meaning they are not directly comparable with data up to March 2024.
Referral to treatment time
Figure 33: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 33: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 1 year rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Numbers have fallen since early 2021.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 34: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 2 years to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 34: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 2 years rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Numbers have been falling since early 2022.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 35: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 35: A line chart showing that the number of pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite starting to fall in early 2021, numbers have been rising in the last year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Cancer services
Figure 36: Percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time, June 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 36: A line chart showing that the percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time has fluctuated over time. The latest figure for July 2024 of 50.4% is well below the performance target of 75%.
Source: Suspected Cancer Pathway, DHCW
Suspected cancer pathway (closed pathways), on StatsWales
[Note 1]: New suspected cancer pathway data collection was introduced in December 2020.
Summary
In Cwm Taf Morgannwg, performance is currently similar to the overall Wales figures for diagnostic tests, better for therapies and similar to the overall Wales figures for RTT waiting lists. Performance is worse than the Wales average for cancer treatment waiting times, and worse than the Wales average for first outpatient appointment waits.
Hywel Dda
Unscheduled care
Emergency ambulance response times
Figure 37: Percentage of red calls which received an emergency response at the scene within 8 minutes, April 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 37: A line chart showing 54.8% of calls received a response within 8 minutes in August 2024. Performance has been changeable in recent years.
Source: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Emergency ambulance calls and responses to red calls, by local health board and month, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: An update to call handling in May 2019 resulted in a change to red incident volume. It is not possible to directly compare before and after this date. Further details are available in the quality information.
Emergency department attendances and admissions to hospital
Figure 38: Percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours at emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 38: A line chart showing 66.2% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours in August 2024. There has been a slight downward trend in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against 4 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Figure 39: Patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged at NHS emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 39: A line chart showing 1466 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged in August 2024. This has generally increased in recent years.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against the 12 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Summary
For ambulance response times, Hywel Dda is currently similar to the Wales average. The percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours is currently similar to the Wales average. The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours is still well above the performance target.
Scheduled care activity
Diagnostic and therapy waiting times
Figure 40: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 8 weeks for diagnostic tests, November 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 40: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for diagnostics tests have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
Figure 41: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 14 weeks for therapy services, November 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 41: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for therapy services started to fall since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but began rising again in mid-2021.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: From April 2024 audiology and weight management pathways were no longer reported in the therapies data, meaning they are not directly comparable with data up to March 2024.
Referral to treatment time
Figure 42: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 42: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 1 year rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite falling in early 2021, numbers have started to rise in the past year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 43: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 2 years to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 43: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 2 years rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Numbers have been falling since early 2022.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 44: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 44: A line chart showing that the number of pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite starting to fall in mid-2022, numbers have been rising in the last year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Cancer services
Figure 45: Percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time, June 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 45: A line chart showing that the percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time has fluctuated over time. The latest figure for July 2024 of 55.0% is well below the performance target of 75%.
Source: Suspected Cancer Pathway, DHCW
Suspected cancer pathway (closed pathways), on StatsWales
[Note 1]: New suspected cancer pathway data collection was introduced in December 2020.
Summary
In Hywel Dda, performance is currently better than the overall Wales figures for diagnostic tests, worse for therapies and better than the overall Wales figures for RTT waiting lists. Performance is similar to the Wales average for cancer treatment waiting times, and better than the Wales average for first outpatient appointment waits.
Powys
For some measures, Powys is not comparable with the other health boards in Wales. This is because there are significant differences in the number and type of services provided in Powys compared with the other health boards.
Unscheduled care
Emergency ambulance response times
Figure 46: Percentage of red calls which received an emergency response at the scene within 8 minutes, April 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 46: A line chart showing 50.6% of calls received a response within 8 minutes in August 2024. Performance has generally deteriorated in recent years.
Source: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Emergency ambulance calls and responses to red calls, by local health board and month, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: An update to call handling in May 2019 resulted in a change to red incident volume. It is not possible to directly compare before and after this date. Further details are available in the quality information.
Scheduled care activity
Diagnostic and therapy waiting times
Figure 47: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 8 weeks for diagnostic tests, November 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 47: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for diagnostics tests have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
Figure 48: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 14 weeks for therapy services, November 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 48: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for therapy services have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and are now back to pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: From April 2024 audiology and weight management pathways were no longer reported in the therapies data, meaning they are not directly comparable with data up to March 2024.
Summary
For some measures, Powys is not comparable with the other health boards in Wales. This is because there are significant differences in the number and type of services provided in Powys compared with the other health boards. For ambulance response times, Powys is currently similar to the Wales average. Performance is currently better than the overall Wales figures for diagnostic tests and better for therapies.
Swansea Bay
Unscheduled care
Emergency ambulance response times
Figure 49: Percentage of red calls which received an emergency response at the scene within 8 minutes, April 2019 to August 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 49: A line chart showing 45.1% of calls received a response within 8 minutes in August 2024. Performance has generally deteriorated in recent years.
Source: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Emergency ambulance calls and responses to red calls, by local health board and month, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: An update to call handling in May 2019 resulted in a change to red incident volume. It is not possible to directly compare before and after this date. Further details are available in the quality information.
Emergency department attendances and admissions to hospital
Figure 50: Percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours at emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 50: A line chart showing 76.6% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours in August 2024. There is no discernible long-term trend in performance.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against 4 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Figure 51: Patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged at NHS emergency departments, April 2019 to August 2024
Description of Figure 51: A line chart showing 1202 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged in August 2024. This has fallen recently since a peak of over 1,600.
Source: Emergency department data set, DHCW
Performance against the 12 hour target by hospital, on StatsWales
Summary
For ambulance response times, Swansea Bay is currently worse than the Wales average. The percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours is currently better than the Wales average. The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours is still well above the performance target.
Scheduled care activity
Diagnostic and therapy waiting times
Figure 52: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 8 weeks for diagnostic tests, November 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 52: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for diagnostics tests have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
Figure 53: Percentage of total pathways waiting over the target time of 14 weeks for therapy services, November 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 53: A line chart showing that pathways waiting over the target time for therapy services have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and are now in single figures.
Source: Diagnostic and therapy services waiting times, DHCW
Diagnostic and Therapy Services Waiting Times by week, on StatsWales
[Note 1]: From April 2024 audiology and weight management pathways were no longer reported in the therapies data, meaning they are not directly comparable with data up to March 2024.
Referral to treatment time
Figure 54: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 54: a line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 1 year rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Number have been falling since early 2021.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 55: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 2 years to start treatment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 55: A line chart showing that pathways waiting longer than 2 years rose sharply at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Numbers have been falling since early 2022.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Figure 56: Percentage of total pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment, April 2019 to July 2024
Description of Figure 56: A line chart showing that the number of pathways waiting longer than 1 year for their first appointment rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic. Numbers were falling from mid-2022 and have been at zero for 9 months.
Source: Referral to treatment times, DHCW
Cancer services
Figure 57: Percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time, June 2019 to July 2024 [Note 1]
Description of Figure 57: A line chart showing that the percentage of pathways where the patient started their first definitive treatment within the target time has fluctuated over time. The latest figure for July 2024 of 58.4% is below the performance target of 75%.
Source: Suspected Cancer Pathway, DHCW
Suspected cancer pathway (closed pathways), on StatsWales
[Note 1]: New suspected cancer pathway data collection was introduced in December 2020.
Summary
In Swansea Bay, performance is currently better than the overall Wales figures for diagnostic tests and therapies and better than the overall Wales figures for RTT waiting lists. Performance is similar to the Wales average for cancer treatment waiting times, and better than the Wales average for first outpatient appointment waits.
Quality and methodology information
Further quality and methodology information relevant to this statistical release can be found in the NHS activity and performance summary quality report.
Official statistics status
All official statistics should show the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics (UK Statistics Authority).
These are accredited official statistics. They were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in July 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
It is Welsh Government’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of accreditation. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with OSR promptly. Accreditation can be cancelled or suspended at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.
Accredited official statistics (OSR) are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the OSR. OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
All of our statistics are produced and published in accordance with a number of statements and protocols to enhance trustworthiness, quality and value. These are set out in the Welsh Government’s Statement of Compliance.
These accredited official statistics demonstrate the standards expected around trustworthiness, quality and public value in the following ways.
Trustworthiness
These statistics are compiled from a range of sources derived from administrative data systems in use across the NHS in Wales. Data on the 111 service, 999 ambulance calls and ambulance response times are provided by the Wales Ambulance Services NHS Trust (WAST), and all other data sources are collected by the Welsh Local Health Boards and provided to DHCW to enable them to be collated at a national level.
The data collections are overseen by the Welsh Information Standards Board (WISB) (DHCW), which is the custodian of the Information Standards Assurance Process. WISB mandates data collections through the NHS and Local Heath Boards, appraises information standards and provides assurance on matters related to confidentiality and consent.
The published figures are compiled by professional analysts using the latest available data and applying methods using their professional judgement and analytical skillset.
These statistics are pre-announced on the Statistics and Research area of the Welsh Government website. Access to the data during processing is restricted to those involved in the production of the statistics, quality assurance and for operational purposes. Pre-release access is restricted to eligible recipients in line with the Code of Practice (UK Statistics Authority).
Quality
Statistics published by Welsh Government adhere to the Statistical Quality Management Strategy which supplements the Quality pillar of the Code of Practice for Statistics and the European Statistical System principles of quality for statistical outputs.
Data standards and definitions are established by the Welsh Information Standards Board (WISB). Guidance is issued to the data providing organisations and training provided to staff responsible for collecting the data at source. DHCW collates and validates health board level data and queries anomalous and missing data directly with the health boards. Before validated datasets are provided by DHCW to Welsh Government, all data are signed off by health boards. DHCW provides validated datasets to Welsh Government, where analysts process the data to produce the aggregate statistics in the format required for publication. Welsh Government undertakes final validation checks which can be queried with DHCW and the health boards before publication. The statistical release is signed off by senior statisticians before publication.
Value
The purposes of this statistical release and the accompanying data published on StatsWales are: to provide evidence for policy development; to inform the media and wider public about activity and performance in the Welsh NHS; to enable service providers such as Local Health Boards and WAST to monitor their own performance.
Reliable statistics on the volume of activity undertaken in the NHS, the size of waiting lists, ambulance response times and emergency department and cancer waiting times are vital to inform users about the state of NHS services and the performance of the Welsh government and the Local Health Boards. These services have a significant impact on citizens’ lives and these topics feature prominently in media coverage and political discourse.
The information published here also supports the Welsh Government’s long term plan for health and social care: A Healthier Wales.
The timeliness of the data provides the most recent update using reliable data.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)
The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators (“national indicators”) that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before Senedd Cymru. Under section 10(8) of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, where the Welsh Ministers revise the national indicators, they must as soon as reasonably practicable (a) publish the indicators as revised and (b) lay a copy of them before the Senedd. These national indicators were laid before the Senedd in 2021. The indicators laid on 14 December 2021 replace the set laid on 16 March 2016.
Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the well-being goals and associated technical information is available in the Wellbeing of Wales report.
Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local well-being assessments and local well-being plans.
We want your feedback
We welcome any feedback on any aspect of these statistics which can be provided by email to stats.healthinfo@gov.wales.
