Increase in 12 hours waits in Welsh A&E

The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in hospital emergency departments is four times what it was five years ago.

New figures reveal that nearly 28,000 patients in Wales faced the longest waits in the first six months of 2019, despite the target stating that no patient should wait more than 12 hours to be treated, transferred or discharged.

Welsh Health Minister Vaughn Gething said that he expects health boards to deliver better performance. The Welsh Government said an extra £50 million given to help reduce the longest waiting times for elective operations was starting to have an impact.

Figures published by Statistics Wales and the NHS Wales Informatics Services show a steady rise in patients over the last five years waiting more than 12 hours in A&E. The half-yearly figure for 2019 shows 27,734 patients waited at least 12 hours - four times the number for the same period five years ago.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Wales commented that the data shows that 'poor performance is a year-round reality in Wales'.

Gething said: "I am still concerned about the timeliness at a small number of sites but we are working with them to improve performance. Fewer patients waited longer than 12 hours in emergency departments for admission to a hospital bed when compared with May, and delayed transfers of care are down three per cent on the same period last year - the second lowest June total on record. However, I expect health boards to work with local authorities to deliver better performance in both these areas."