ONLY 56% of October’s most urgent “red calls” for ambulances in the Hywel Dda health board area failed to reach patients within the target time of eight minutes.

The startling figure, inevitably showing that patient safety at risk, emerged last week in the latest monthly performance data for the Welsh NHS.

Patients waiting for “red calls” include those with suspected strokes, cardiac arrest, or assessed with immediately life-threatening injuries or illness.

Almost two-thirds of amber call patients waited more than an hour for ambulances to attend.

Only 15% of patients on amber calls were attended to within half an hour.

Amber calls include serious but not immediately life-threatening conditions. These calls will include most medical and trauma cases, such as chest pain and fractures.

The target for ambulance performance has never been met since its introduction, and the Hywel Dda LHB area is consistently among the worst for emergency call responses.

PATIENTS CONTINUE TO WAIT

More than 2,850 patient pathways remain open in the Hywel Dda area after two years. While open pathways are not the same as the number of patients waiting, the number of patients waiting shows little sign of falling in time for the Board to meet the Welsh Government’s target of eliminating all waits for treatment exceeding two years by next Spring.

Furthermore, although the number of patients waiting more than two years for a follow-up appointment has slightly fallen in the Hywel Dda area, underlying data show an increase in the number of patients waiting between one and two years for a follow-up appointment.

A&E DEPARTMENTS STRUGGLE

Just over 3,500 patients attended Withybush A&E in the period the statistics cover.
The target performance time is for 95% of all patients attending A&E to be seen within four hours.

At Withybush, 54% received treatment in the target time.

Performance was not much better at Glangwili, where around 57.5% were dealt with on target. Over 15% of patients attending Withybush A&E were still in the department waiting for treatment after more than 12 hours. Again, Glangwili’s performance was only a little better.

THE NATIONAL PICTURE

Nationally, there were 761,111 patient pathways, with 594,000 individual patients waiting for treatment, the highest on record.

For diagnostic services, patient pathways waiting increased to around 120,400 in September, the highest on record.

Two-year waits remain at 26,439 despite the Welsh Labour Government’s commitment to eliminate these waits in March of this year.

Hitting the target to eliminate them by next Spring will take a revolution in patient care or creative manipulation of the figures. Without those, there is no hope of eliminating two-year waits.

The actual picture is far worse than those dismal figures suggest. To try and ensure it reached the target it failed to hit in March, the Welsh Government rigged the figures to exclude waiting times for major clinical specialisms like orthopaedics.

“SHAMEFUL AND UNACCEPTABLE”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said: “Waits for treatment and diagnostic services are the worst on record. Cancer waits are the second worst on record. These shameful statistics from our Labour-run Welsh NHS are completely unacceptable. These are real people languishing on these lists, often in pain. Wales deserves better.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson responded: “The pressure on our NHS services has continued to grow as we enter the toughest time of the year. “Although waiting lists have grown overall, it is encouraging that the longest waits continue to fall. Most people waiting on an individual waiting list (patient pathway) are waiting less than 26 weeks.
“We are pleased that patients waiting longer than one year for their first outpatient appointment also decreased. This was despite more than 4,000 referrals for first outpatient appointments made per day on average in September.
“The number of people being informed they do not have cancer also increased, but it is concerning that so many are missing the target date for treatment. The Welsh Government is exerting significant pressure on health boards to improve performance.
“It is also positive that the number of people calling the NHS 111 Wales service continues to rise. In October, the highest number of callers on record had their calls answered within 60 seconds. This helps patients’ experiences and supports people in accessing the right treatment at the right time and place.
“Although the increase in the total waiting list this month is very small, it is disappointing to see them at their highest levels on record – that is due to the continued number of people joining the waiting lists, with the highest annual number of new referrals on record in the latest 12 months.
“Health boards are working hard to tackle the longest waits, but the most urgent cases must always be seen first.”