Cabinet Secretary response to latest NHS Wales performance data: June and July 2024

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Mark Drakeford, said:

High-quality, life-saving and life-changing care is provided every day by hard-working NHS staff all over Wales in the face of continued and unrelenting demand on services.

I am pleased to see the number of people who received the good news they do not have cancer increased in June, and performance against the 62 day target improved to 56.7%.

However, there is still more health boards need to do to meet the national cancer target.

In emergency care, demand remains very high. The number of immediately life-threatening (red) 999 calls to the ambulance service made each day was the fourth highest on record in July, and attendances at emergency departments continue to be above the long-term average.

Performance against the 4 hour A&E target improved, and the average time people spent in emergency departments before being discharged, admitted to hospital or transferred also fell in July.

There was an improvement in ambulance response times and we have also seen an improvement in hospital discharge delay figures in July compared to June.

However, it is disappointing that the number of people waiting more than 2 years for treatment has increased and there’s been further growth in the overall waiting list – just as there has been in other parts of the UK.

We have been very clear with health boards that we expect to see a focus on reducing long waiting times. We will continue to support the NHS to improve the timeliness of planned and emergency care.