Long waiting times for patients to be tackled with 'extra' £22m

Patients' long waiting times will be cut with £22m "extra" funding, the Welsh Government said today. It pledged to increase funding on the thorny issue to £50m at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno yesterday and gave more details today.

Welsh First Minster Eluned Morgan said on Saturday that £22 million more will be made available to tackle NHS waiting lists in Wales, in addition to £28 million already pledged.

The Welsh Government says the £22m will include a £3m package to reduce the longest waiting times for children’s neurodevelopmental assessments across Wales. But today the Welsh Conservatives called the Labour-run administration's measures too slow.

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Welsh Labour's Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, outlined the funding details in a statement today.

He said: "On 24 October, I announced £28m to support health boards to reduce the longest waiting times, increase outpatient appointments and speed up diagnostic testing.

"I am today increasing that funding to £50m, which will be available immediately to health boards to increase capacity in the NHS in Wales and to commission activity from the private sector, where available. The focus will continue to be on reducing the longest waits for treatment, on cutting waiting times for diagnostic tests and increasing capacity in outpatient departments."

He added: "However, it will also include a £3m package to reduce the longest waiting times for children’s neurodevelopmental assessments across Wales, alongside wider work the NHS Executive and health boards are undertaking to transform services."

But Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Sam Rowlands MS said: "Labour's plans to tackle the Welsh NHS waiting lists are as slow as moving a ship. They've had years to get their act together to support our Welsh NHS professionals and stop people languishing in pain. But instead they've done nothing.

"We've been calling for surgical hubs and diagnostic centres for years to cut the longest waiting lists in the UK."