This week in the Senedd, Gareth Davies MS called for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, seeking an explanation from the Welsh Government on waiting times in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board after raising serious concerns about the accuracy and transparency of official waiting time data.
Speaking during the Business Statement and Announcement, Mr Davies highlighted the case of a constituent who was initially told to expect a 30 to 36 month wait for a medical procedure, only to later discover that the procedure had been indefinitely postponed. Nearly five years on from the original referral, the constituent has received little communication and remains without clarity on when treatment will take place.
Mr Davies questioned whether procedures that are cancelled or indefinitely delayed risk being excluded from official waiting time statistics altogether, potentially giving the impression that waiting times are improving when patients are still left waiting. He also expressed his worry given the recent reports showing that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board undercounted more than 11,600 cumulative cases between April and August last year.
The Welsh Government has provided assurances that these issues with waiting time data have been resolved but Mr Davies requested evidence from the Welsh Government of how processes have changed and how the data is recorded, stressing that residents in North Wales deserve transparency, and Senedd members need accurate data in order to accurately scrutinise the performance of the Health Board and the Welsh Government more broadly.
In response, the Welsh Government’s Trefnydd and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Janet Hutt, praised the dedication of NHS staff and noted that a wider statement on waiting times is expected.
Commenting following the exchange, Gareth Davies MS said:
“The recent and well-publicised revelation of inaccurate waiting time data at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has damaged public confidence and raised concerns that the true scale of the problem may be systematically understated.
“A constituent of mine was left waiting for years only to find that their procedure had been indefinitely postponed which raises legitimate concerns about whether people are being quietly dropped from the system and left out of official waiting time statistics.
“Given the previous under-counting of cases, it’s not unreasonable for residents in North Wales to want clear, detailed evidence that waiting time data is now being recorded properly and transparently, and I’ve asked the Welsh Government to provide this to reinforce public confidence and ensure we are aware of the true scale of the challenge facing our NHS.”