Improvements testament to leaders and staff but huge challenges remain

• In January there were 6,073 red (life threatening) calls to the ambulance service, 17.9% of all calls. This is over 1,000 calls more than the same month last year. An average of 196 immediately life-threatening calls were made each day, the third highest on record. 
• In emergency departments in January, performance against the four and twelve-hour targets both improved compared with the previous month. The average time spent in emergency departments in January was 15 minutes shorter than the previous month at 2 hours and 41 minutes. 
• In December, the number of overall patient pathways decreased from just under 802,300 to just under 800,400.
• Performance improved against the 62-day cancer target in December, increasing to 61.9%, compared to 60.2% the previous month. This was the best performance since August 2021. 

Responding to the NHS activity and performance statistics for December and January, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation Darren Hughes said:

“The latest figures show a mixed picture of performance in the face of relentless demand and pressure on NHS services.

“The fact that improvements were made in several areas is testament to the dedication of staff who labour night and day to provide treatment for patients – thank you for your determination, commitment, care and hard work. These improvements include performance in emergency departments in January, the overall number of people waiting for treatment coming down for the first time in months and the best performance against the 62-day cancer target since 2021. Given these statistics are based on December and January, the most difficult months of the year for the health service and a particularly difficult flu season, these green shoots are not to be dismissed.

“However, we cannot ignore that ultimately, challenges remain across the breadth of health and social care services and people are needing higher levels of care at an ever-increasing rate. Waiting lists are higher than any of us would like them to be. Health and care leaders know there is still a long way to go in what is a very difficult financial climate and staff are committed to continuing to innovate and transform services in the face of increasing demand.

“The NHS is likely to face more difficult winters until we tackle the long-term challenges across the NHS and social care. Unless we make meaningful shifts towards prevention, longer-term planning and solutions, upgrading to fit-for-purpose physical and digital infrastructure and creating a sustainable social care system, the NHS will continue to firefight day in, day out.”