The Party of Wales has highlighted figures which show that Welsh NHS lags well behind Scotland and England in performance on diagnostic tests.
Figures collated and published recently by Plaid Cymru show that in Wales, patients wait much longer for the necessary tests and scans to identify illnesses compared with other UK nations.
The number of those waiting for diagnostic tests is considerably higher in Wales than in England and Scotland. For example, the number of people waiting more than six weeks for MRI scans in Wales is 48.6%, compared with 1.2% in England and 2.9% in Scotland.
Last week, the Labour Shadow Health Secretary raised concern that the number of patients waiting more than six weeks for cancer diagnostic tests in England had doubled to 2%. However, the number of people waiting more than six weeks for similar tests such as Colonoscopy and Cystoscopy in Wales is over 50% (52% and 54% respectively).
The Party of Wales Shadow Health Minister Elin Jones will today call on the Welsh Health Minister to treat waiting times as a matter of priority for the sake of worried families.
The Party of Wales Shadow Health Minister Elin Jones said:
“The figures reveal a startling difference in the length of time a patient can expect to wait in Wales compared to Scotland and England for basic tests, and it should be a matter of priority for the government to minimize this gap and ensure that as many patients as possible are seen within the target time.
“These are the basic scans and tests that can identify potentially life-threatening illnesses. For example, colonoscopies are used to identify bowel cancer.
“All evidence shows that early diagnosis contributes to better survival rates, so it’s essential that doctors are able to identify illnesses as soon as possible.
“The Welsh Government should be looking at examples of best practice to tackle this problem, such as the performance management systems that Scotland has successfully used to bring waiting times down.”
