NHS performance stats show rising demand on health services

21 Jun 2019 12:06 PM

The latest NHS performance stats released yesterday show the volume and scale of the increasing demand that the NHS in Wales faces.

A&E attendances were the third highest May on record. Emergency admissions volumes for May are also among the highest on record and pressure on emergency care facilities continues to grow, with the medium term trend showing attendances up by 7.5% over the year since 2014. 

While there are positives to take from this month’s data, it’s clear that there are still areas where the NHS in Wales faces challenges including in waiting times for scheduled and unscheduled care. 

The Health Minister has been clear with NHS Wales boards and trusts about the need to deliver improvements in performance quickly.

Against this backdrop of increasing demand, it is encouraging that progress is being made in some areas:

However, the numbers of people waiting over 12 hours for admission to a hospital bed remains a concern and further actions are necessary around unscheduled care. We are working with health and social care partners to address this as a priority.

Related Links