NHS boss: Growing demand 'not an excuse' for missed targets but services 'stabilising'

Growing demand on the health service is "not an excuse" for targets being consistently missed in Wales, an NHS boss has said.

The deputy chief executive for NHS Wales described targets set by the Welsh Government as "very, very challenging".

It comes as latest figures reveal that waiting times in A&E have got worse, despite a drop in footfall, with 70.7% of people seen within four hours.

The target is 95% – which has never been met.

Data also shows that the number of people starting cancer treatment within the target time of 62 days is the second lowest on record, at 53.4%. The target is 75%.

Ambulance response times are also lagging well behind the target - with just 52.6% of the most serious calls responded to within eight minutes. The target is 65%.

NHS Wales deputy chief executive Nick Wood said: "The targets are clearly aspirations and ambitions and it is disappointing that we consistently don't meet those what are very, very challenging targets.

"If we look at the delivery of targets right across the United Kingdom and beyond it is extremely difficult to deliver those targets currently.

"That's in part due to the increases in demand that we've seen in the system. In the last month we saw 17,000 referrals for cancer in Wales, which is 20% more that we saw in the same month last year, and a similar increase in the number of referrals for surgical treatments.

"So we are managing huge increases in demand, which clearly restricts our ability to deliver the targets for everybody in Wales.

"That's not an excuse for the non-delivery of the targets and it is disappointing, but we have to focus on those urgent referrals and those patients that require treatment either through an emergency cancer pathway or an urgent referral."

Mr Wood said the NHS cannot "continue to do the things that we've always done because that will not work".

It's why the Health Minister has announced a new "transformational" programme which aims to help prepare people who are waiting for treatment.

It also aims to reduce high numbers of last-minute cancellations and give people the best outcomes post-treatment.

Minister for Health and Social Services Eluned Morgan said: "While demand for services is not slowing and the overall waiting list has risen again, we need to ensure we are managing our resources effectively. Last year more than 6,000 treatments were cancelled at the last minute.

"Last minute cancellations mean wasted resources - it's a loss of consultant and surgeon time when that space could have been offered to someone else."

Mr Wood added that some of the statistics revealed in Thursday's performance data are "encouraging".

"There's some good progress being made on the longest waits and average wait time for patients in Wales," he said.

"We've seen average waits this month of around 19 weeks, which is down 10 weeks from the peak in October 2020. That's despite record levels of referrals both into elective surgery and cancer pathways.

"So it's encouraging that we're seeing a reduction in the longest waits, not quite as fast as we would like, but I think on average waits are coming down which is really goods news."

Commenting on the figures, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister, Russell George MS said: “I was particularly disappointed to see that despite a fall in footfall in emergency departments, 4-hour and 12-hour target waits for A&E have worsened...

"With Labour promising to cut the health budget in Wales for the second time in one year, the situation is set to decline further."

"We need to prioritise protecting the health budget, not wasting taxpayers’ cash on rolling out 20mph zones and sending more politicians to Cardiff Bay as Labour are doing.”

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