£145m extra this year to cut NHS waits and end two-year waits

The Welsh Government is setting out today, Thursday 3 September, how an extra £145m this financial year will cut the NHS Wales waiting list and end two-year waits for treatment. The money is split three ways: £100m to reduce waiting times, £25m for new surgical and diagnostic hubs, and £20m for essential maintenance across the NHS estate.

The clinically led approach has Health Boards working together to target the longest waits, improve productivity, expand capacity and keep transforming planned care. The aim is to bring the overall waiting list to pre-pandemic levels before the end of this Senedd term.

For patients that means more surgical capacity, including at weekends, aimed at the specialities where waits are longest. Referrals will be reviewed earlier so people get the right advice, tests or treatment first time. Many patients attend routine follow-ups that are no longer needed. The new approach has patients contact services when support is needed rather than attending appointments that may not be, freeing tens of thousands of appointments.

Faster scanning and testing sit at the centre of it, with money in diagnostic capacity and digital tools to cut the time between referral and diagnosis. New standards will treat the people who have waited longest next, unless there is a clear clinical reason to prioritise someone else.

Health and Care Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor visits Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny today to see the theatres, the regional cataract hub and the endoscopy facilities. He said: "Waiting two years for planned care is not acceptable. This investment is tied to Health Boards changing how they work, permanently, so the progress I expect to see doesn't slip back as it has in the past. That's the difference between a short-term fix and lasting change."

NHS Wales national clinical directors of planned care Richard Egan and Ken Harries said: "We welcome today's announcement. It's particularly pleasing to see the clear focus on modernisation and sustainability."