19 June 2025
As the Wales government announces a multimillion-pound package to reduce elective waiting lists, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has warned they must also focus on extreme long waits in A&E which are putting vulnerable patients at risk.
It comes as new data on Emergency Department performance in Wales reveals one in six patients waited 12 hours or more in major EDs last month (May 2025).
That’s 10,356 patients – up almost 200 people (189) when compared to April 2025.
The figures, released by the Welsh government today (19 June 2025) also showed the number of people who endured these waits in May is nearly four times higher than the same month in 2018 (2,822).
The stark statistics come on the same day as Health Secretary Jeremy Miles MS announced a £120 million package to fund Wales’ “ambitious” plans to cut waiting times for planned treatment.
The new Planned Care Recovery Plan pledges to reduce waiting lists by 200,000, eliminate all two-year waits, and restore the diagnostic wait times to under eight weeks.
Meanwhile, in the last two weeks, the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has issued three public pleas on social media, asking people to only attend its A&E if it’s an emergency due to being extremely busy.
Dr Rob Perry, RCEM Vice President for Wales, said: “It’s concerning the Health Secretary has come out today saying tackling waiting times is the government’s ‘number one priority’ when announcing funding to tackle planned care lists – while our patients continue to endure extreme waits in ED.
“These waits can’t fall down the government’s ‘to do’ list, because, put simply, lives are at risk. We know deaths of thousands of people are associated with long waits in Emergency Departments.
“It’s often our most vulnerable who endure stays of 12 hours or more too, often on a trolley in a corridor – elderly patients who are mums, dads, grandparents or those experiencing mental health crises.
“And it’s not just an issue in winter; our departments remain under significant strain – one forced to go public about the pressure it was under in recent days.
“We can’t go on like this – extreme ED waits must be given the same political attention and prioritisation as waits for planned procedures. You can’t fix one without fixing the other.”
