The Welsh Government has announced a clinically led programme to tackle NHS waiting times, backed by a significant £145 million investment designed to reduce treatment delays, expand capacity and modernise planned care services across Wales.
The funding package, recently confirmed by Welsh Health and Care Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor, includes £100 million dedicated to reducing NHS waiting lists, £25 million for new surgical and diagnostic hubs, and a further £20 million to address essential maintenance across the NHS estate.
The investment forms part of a wider strategy that will see Health Boards work more closely together to target the longest waits, improve productivity, increase sustainable capacity and transform how planned care services are delivered. The ultimate aim is to eliminate waits of more than two years for treatment and return overall waiting lists to pre-pandemic levels before the end of the current Senedd term.
For patients, the reforms are intended to create a more streamlined healthcare journey, ensuring people are assessed, diagnosed and treated more quickly rather than spending extended periods moving between different stages of care.
Under the new approach, Health Boards will collaborate to increase surgical capacity, including expanding weekend operations in specialties where waiting times remain highest. The strategy also places greater emphasis on early review of referrals, helping patients receive the right advice, investigations or treatment sooner.
By reviewing referrals earlier, clinicians will be able to direct people onto the most appropriate pathway first time, reducing unnecessary delays and ensuring available resources are focused where they are needed most.
The Welsh Government also wants to reduce the number of routine follow-up appointments that are no longer clinically necessary. Instead, patients will be encouraged to contact services when they require support, helping free up tens of thousands of appointments for other clinical activities, including first outpatient consultations.
Diagnostic services will play a central role in the reforms. Investment in enhanced scanning, testing capacity and digital tools is expected to reduce the time between referral and diagnosis, enabling patients to access treatment more quickly.
New standards will also be introduced to ensure patients who have waited the longest are treated next, unless there is a clear clinical reason to prioritise another patient.
As part of the announcement, Mabon ap Gwynfor is visiting Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny to meet NHS staff and view the hospital's operating theatres, regional cataract hub and endoscopy facilities.
Mabon ap Gwynfor, Welsh Health and Care Minister, 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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