Patients spending more than 12 hours in A&E in Wales ‘highest on record’

Pressures on A&E and the ambulance service in Wales were the most severe on record last month, new figures show.

The latest NHS performance statistics show targets for emergency care were missed across the board in November.

Almost 6,000 patients spent 12 hours or more in an emergency care facility - the highest number on record.

Targets were also missed by patients waiting for “scheduled care” - healthcare provided in hospitals which are considered important but not emergencies. Scheduled care includes cancer treatment.

The 95% target set by the Welsh Government for patients spending less than four hours in A&E, also continued to be missed with only 74.4% of patients being seen and discharged within that target time. This is the lowest number on record.

Emergency responders were also facing their busiest time last month. For the first time, the target for immediately life threatening calls was missed since new targets were introduced in 2015.

Only 61.4% of emergency responses to these ‘red calls’ arrived within eight minutes, missing the 65% target.

This comes after a woman from Cwmaman died after waiting nearly six hours on a pavement for an ambulance. Donna Gilby slipped and fractured her foot on Tuesday, she then later died in hospital of a heart attack.

For cancer patients, the new figures show that in October more than a quarter of patients newly diagnosed with cancer did not start treatment within 62 days from the time their cancer was suspected.

Richard Pugh, Head of Services (Wales) for Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “This is the worst performance since this new way of measuring cancer waiting times in Wales started in June.

“Every person diagnosed with cancer in Wales should have timely treatment which meets their needs as outlined in our cancer plan, but we need the right cancer workforce, skills and systems in place to support this.”

The Royal Collage of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) Wales said that these latest figures do "not bode well for the rest of the winter".

Dr Jo Mower, Vice President of RCEM Wales said, "We started this season from a low baseline as deteriorating performance has been a feature of 2019.

"The increase in long waits particular should be a cause for grave concern. We know that there is evidence that suggests that long waits in hospital corridors puts patient safety at risk.

"The general reduction of staffed beds across the NHS in Wales means that we cannot admit patients from the Emergency Department as quickly as we would like to, resulting in overcrowding, trolley waits, and corridor-based care."

The Welsh Government have just announced that more than half of their budget will be spent on health. They intend to increase funding for the NHS by £342m.

A Welsh Government spokesperson thanked NHS staff for delivering care throughout such a busy period and highlighted that almost three-quarters of patients received ambulance responses within 10 minutes.

In response to the statistics, the Director of the Welsh NHS Confederation said staff are working hard to provide excellent care for patients despite the amount of pressure they face.

The Welsh NHS Confederation represents all the organisations that make up the NHS in Wales.