New figures released today show that patients in Wales continue to wait in Accident & Emergency departments beyond target waiting times.
The targets that 95% of Welsh patients should be seen within four hours and 99% seen within eight hours have not been met once in the past three years, despite being regularly achieved in other parts of the UK.
Darren Millar AM, Shadow Minister for Health, said, “These figures reveal how Ministers are consistently failing to meet both the expectations of patients and their Government’s own targets.
“It is simply unacceptable to expect people to wait over four hours and in some cases over eight hours to be seen by a clinician.
“Excessive waits in A&E departments can be distressing and uncomfortable especially for the elderly, young children and the chronically ill.
“These targets have not been met once in the past three years, despite the same standards being surpassed in other parts of the UK.
“These worrying figures reveal the challenge for the new Health Minister to turn around this intolerable situation, which is putting too many Welsh patients through unnecessary pain and discomfort.”
