Why are over five thousand people still waiting over two years for orthopedic surgery, following the Welsh Government's pledge in April 2022 that it would eliminate the number of people waiting longer than two years in most specialties by March 2023?
The target to eliminate two year waits by March 2023 applied to all specialties, excluding those recognised as exceptionally challenging. Prior to the pandemic orthopaedics was classed as a challenged specialty.
We were clear to the NHS, however, that this was not an opt out for orthopaedics. We have seen significant improvement against the delivery of orthopaedic waits since April 2022. The latest figures (July 2024) show a 73% improvement in the number of people waiting more than two years since the recovery plan was published in April 2022. In April 2022, 20% of orthopaedic pathways were waiting more than two years; by July 2024, this had reduced to 5%.
Although the overall size of the orthopaedics waiting list has increased since April 2022, the median waiting time has reduced by 20%.
The NHS Executive, through the orthopaedic clinical implementation network, is continuing to support the NHS to deliver service improvement across all health boards. This includes referral pathway redesign, planning and implementing a regional service model, and maximising outpatient and theatre productivity, against Get it Right First Time recommendations.