Nearly 600,000 people are currently waiting for treatment on the Welsh NHS, it has been revealed.
Latest Welsh Government statistics show that a record 595,272 people were on the NHS waiting list in April 2021 - up 29% on pre-pandemic levels - with 223,365 on there for nine months (36 weeks) or more.
The most common long waits were for trauma and orthopaedic treatment (87,918), general surgery such as gallbladder and hernia operations (70,084), while 50,962 people were waiting for ear, nose or throat treatment.
The increase comes at a time when demand on acute care, such as the Welsh Ambulance Service and accident and emergency departments, is also on the rise and nearing pre-pandemic levels.
In May the proportion of immediately life-threatening 'Red' calls to the ambulance service was the second highest on record since comparable data was first available in May 2019.
The percentage of Red calls receiving a response within eight minutes was 60.6% in May 2021. This was 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous month and below the 65% target for the 10th consecutive month.
Similarly, waiting times targets in Welsh accident and emergency departments were not met once again. In May, 71% of patients (61,925 patients) spent less than four hours in emergency departments from arrival until admission, transfer or discharge, a drop on the 74% recorded the previous month and way below the Welsh Government target of 95%.
Worryingly, at the other end of the scale 5,635 patients spent 12 hours or more in an emergency care department - an increase of 992 patients on April. Earlier this week we spoke to a couple who were in Morriston Hospital in Swansea from midday to midnight before being treated. The full story can be found here.
Richard Johnson, director for Wales of the Royal College of Surgeons, said it was "very distressing" to see waiting times increase for patients needing hospital treatment in Wales.
"For those of us working on the frontline, this does not come as a surprise, but it is still very worrying," he said.
"There are now nearly 600,000 people on the NHS hospital waiting list. We need to get surgery back to pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible. Unless we have a clear plan for reducing the backlog, it will take years for us to catch up.
"Behind each of these statistics are people waiting in pain or discomfort for operations, such as hip and knee replacements, ear, nose and throat surgery, or breast reconstruction after mastectomy. These operations are crucial to reducing pain, restoring a patient's quality of life or mobility and, in some cases, their ability to work.
"There is no quick solution, but we must focus on restoring patients' access to timely surgery. For more than a year now, we have been calling for the creation of Covid-light surgical hubs across Wales, so that elective surgery can continue safely even if there are new variants of the virus, or outbreaks of seasonal flu. The Welsh Government must make waiting times their top priority by allocating funding both for surgical hubs and to training more surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists."
Darren Hughes, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation said there is "a long road ahead" for the NHS in Wales to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said: "The NHS continues to address those waiting for treatment based on clinical need and safety, whilst trying to treat people as close to home as possible.
“The Welsh NHS is experiencing significant levels of demand across services, including the ambulance service, emergency departments and GP practices, with the ambulance service experiencing the highest level of daily calls since the pandemic began.
"We ask the public to continue to use services responsibly by only using emergency services in life-threatening situations, using NHS 111 services as a first port of call for non-emergency care, visiting your community pharmacy for minor ailments and using the multitude of online resources available where possible."
Meanwhile, there was better news when it came to cancer patients. Some 13,480 were referred to the suspected cancer pathway in April 2021, which is the second consecutive time the monthly figure has exceeded the pre-pandemic average monthly figure of 13,208 referrals.
Judi Rhys MBE, chief executive of Tenovus Cancer Care, said: "Early diagnosis is key to successful treatment of cancer and we should not lose sight of the fact that there are still nearly 35,000 people 'missing' from the cancer system, representing a significant challenge to the ongoing health of the nation.
"However, this is a chink of light that gives us optimism that, as the Covid-19 pandemic begins to subside, we can avert a cancer pandemic through a combination of public awareness-raising and investment in our health service."
In response to the latest NHS performance figures, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our health and social care system. The pausing of non-emergency care and the need to introduce new infection prevention and control measures has led to record waiting times for treatment. The service faces an enormous challenge in recovering.
"We are now starting to see patient demand return to, or exceed, pre-pandemic levels for Welsh Ambulance Service and emergency department staff, at a time when PPE and other infection control requirements remain in place. Health boards are working to put in place new ways of working to ensure patients can be seen safely and as quickly as possible. We have also made £25m available to transform urgent and emergency care.
"Last month the health minister set out plans to help the service recover, supported by an initial £100m investment. As the minister set-out this process will take at least the length of this Senedd term and will require innovation in delivering care. We will continue to work closely with health boards and social care providers to drive this work forward."
