Patients will be seen and treated quicker under new plans announced by the Welsh Government. An ambitious list of pledges has been announced by the Plaid Cymru health minister as he tries to meet the promises he made during the election campaign and reduce Wales’ stubbornly high waiting times.
The plans mean, the Welsh Government say, that patients will be assessed, diagnosed and treated quicker, rather than spending months or years moving between different stages of the system.
They say health boards will work together to increase surgical capacity, including at weekends, targeting the specialities where waits are longest. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
The six specialities being focussed on are orthopaedics, eye care, gynaecology, general surgery, ENT and oral surgery.
Referrals will be also reviewed earlier so people receive the right advice, tests or treatment first time to help avoid unnecessary delays, direct patients to the most appropriate pathway and ensure available capacity is focused where it is needed most.
Many patients attend routine follow-ups they no longer need. The new approach will see patients contact services when they need support rather than attending appointments they may not need, freeing up tens of thousands of appointments for other clinical activity including for those waiting to be seen for the first time.
Faster scanning and testing will be central to the approach, with investment in diagnostic capacity and digital tools to cut the time between referral and diagnosis.
New standards will also make sure people who have waited longest are treated next, unless there’s a clear clinical reason to prioritise someone else.
The pledge by the end of this government term in 2030 is that longest waits of more than 104 weeks are completely eliminated; the overall waiting list is down; 196,000 more appointments are released; and more pathways for diagnosis and referrals are created.
While many of the proposals or plans are not new as such, there has, we understand, been an increased buy-in from health boards since the change in government.
The Welsh Government say there are examples of good practice all across Wales but this is about joining those up and ensuring patients, wherever they are, receive the same treatment. Patients will see that variability, between, for example, what is classed as urgent by one surgeon in one area removed.
They say this plan is fundamentally different, because it doesn’t just reduce waiting list volumes – as a plan under Labour did – but is a clinically-led programme designed to create a sustainable system which not only eliminates long waits but improves the NHS in Wales year on year.
A plan last year was all about reducing waiting lists by creating more outpatient capacity and 200,000 appointments outsourced to private operators.
While waiting times did improve temporarily, Wales has over a million outpatient follow-up waits and across the NHS overall demand is growing.
Improvements couldn’t be delivered sustainably because of the way services are run.
A financial investment of £145m had already been announced, including £100m to reduce NHS waiting times, £25m in new surgical and diagnostic hubs, and £20m on essential maintenance.
The Welsh Government says under this new plan it will require health boards to show it has done work before they are paid resulting in a tighter control of finances.
Health minister Mabon ap Gwynfor 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.
“Patients should receive timely advice, diagnosis and treatment through services that are designed around their needs, not around organisational boundaries.
“Alongside additional capacity, we are supporting changes that make services more sustainable, including better referral management, increased diagnostic capacity, more surgical hub activity and improved follow-up arrangements.
“None of this is possible without the hard work and expertise of NHS staff. Their leadership sits at the heart of this approach, and every health board must now work together to deliver further improvements for patients.”
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