NHS Surgery waits up by 400% in Wales since 2013

Mr Williams is concerned by the findings of a recent report by Mr Tim Havard, regional director of the Royal College Surgeons, on the NHS waiting times for total hip and total knee joint replacement surgery in Wales.

Five times as many patients in Wales are waiting more than a year for surgery compared to four years ago, the Royal College of Surgeons has said.

An RCS Freedom of Information request showed more than 3,600 patients had waited more than 12 months in March, compared to almost 700 in March 2013.

Tim Havard described the steep increase as “very worrying”.

The head of the Welsh NHS said missing waiting targets was “unacceptable”.

The RCS pointed to the progress in reducing both 26 and 36 week waiting times for surgery in recent years but said overall waits were “too long”.

Trauma and orthopaedics surgery have the longest waiting times but there were declines in waiting times for specialities such as urology and cardiology.

In England, just 1,302 patients waited longer than a year for treatment in March.