Rise in longest waiting times

These are more bad figures relating to the NHS in Wales.

In recent weeks, we've bad news regarding waiting times for cancer treatment, A&E and we've seen the ambulance service miss its targets for the eleventh month in a row.

Critics will jump on this as another example of the NHS under severe strain.

The Welsh Government says severe weather in the winter months led to an increase in people needing treatment, and says steps are being taken to reduce the backlog.

"Instead of getting better, NHS waiting times are getting progressively worse" says Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar.

“Spiralling waits for treatment are now so common-place that they have almost become the norm. That’s absolutely unacceptable."

“April’s rise came at a time when financial pressures were at an all-time high and it’s clear that Labour’s record-breaking budget cuts continue to have an incredibly damaging impact"

“The Welsh Labour Government’s target is already less ambitious than in England, yet these targets are still frequently missed" said Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Kirsty Williams.

"Why should Welsh patients be forced to wait so much longer?"

Figures show the number of patients in Wales waiting longer than 36 weeks for treatment has risen sharply.

7,611 patients waiting for that length of time in April, a rise of more than 2,000 on the previous month, according to Statistics Wales figures.

The Welsh Government has a target for 100% of patients to begin treatment within 36 weeks.

A further 30,988 were waiting between 26 and 36 weeks to start treatment.