Hospital waiting times shake-up plans for Wales
Upping the number of virtual appointments and tests closer to home part of Welsh Government plan being launched today
The Welsh Health Minister is due to give more details later on how the Welsh Government plans to cut waiting times over the next four years.
£60 million is going into the strategy, with £15m a year over the next four years for health boards.
The plan, which will be published at noon today, has been designed to help the NHS manage the backlog of appointments and treatments, which has built up during the pandemic and reduce waiting times for people with non-urgent health conditions.
Eluned Morgan says they want to ensure no one will be waiting more than a year for treatment in most specialties by Spring 2025.
A series of “stretching targets” for health boards will be laid out.
The Welsh Government blame the Coronavirus pandemic for increased waiting times saying that at the start of the pandemic, the majority of appointments and treatments were postponed to enable the NHS to focus on caring for the large number of people with Covid 19.
"No longer than a year"
Minister for Health and Social Services Eluned Morgan said:
“We need a determined effort to ensure people waiting for appointments and treatment are seen as quickly as possible and in order of clinical priority. We are committing £1bn this Senedd term to help the NHS recover from the pandemic and to treat people as quickly as possible.
“Reducing waiting times will require new solutions, more equipment, new facilities and more staff to help diagnose people quickly as part of an effective and efficient planned care service.
“This plan sets out how we will transform planned care so the most urgent cases are prioritised.
“Unfortunately waiting times and waiting lists have grown during the pandemic and will take a long time and a lot of hard work to do but we are committed to working with our fantastic NHS to ensure no one waits longer than a year for treatment in most specialities by spring 2025.”
Virtual appointments
The Welsh Government also want to increase the amount of virtual appointments for patients, saying people will only need to go into hospital when they need care, advice or services, which cannot be “delivered as close to their home as possible”.
They want 35% of all new appointments and 50% of follow-up appointments being delivered virtually in future, claiming this will help to free up clinicians’ time so they can see and treat more patients.
Tests outside hospital
More diagnostic tests will also be delivered outside hospitals and closer to people’s homes in primary and community care settings.
Plans for two community diagnostic centres will be developed this year, with more to follow by the end of this Senedd term.
Patients in Wales will also be expected to manage their own conditions via a website.