Thursday 22 August 2024
The new First Minister of Wales must take urgent action to address long waits in Emergency Departments before an inevitable winter spike in demand.
That is the call from The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) as new data reveals last month was the second worst July since records began in 2010 for extended wait times in Emergency Departments in the country.
The news comes as previous First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford is appointed as interim Health Secretary by new First Minister Eluned Morgan. Both have previously served as Health Minister.
Statistics released today (22 August 2024) by the Welsh Government covering July 2024, showed that last month, more than 2 in 5 people (42.8%) waited four hours or longer in an Emergency Department, the highest percentage so far this year.
The statistics also showed more than 2 in 10 people (23.7%) waited eight hours or longer, and shockingly, almost 15 out of every 100 people that attended a Welsh Emergency Department in July were forced to wait more than 12 hours.
Compared to July 2017, the numbers waiting four hours or more increased by almost double, the numbers waiting more than eight hours has tripled, and the numbers waiting more than 12 hours has quadrupled. This is despite attendance being 5.5% lower.
Dr Rob Perry, RCEM’s Vice President for Wales said: “The College would like to congratulate Eluned Morgan and Mark Drakeford on their appointments. Ms Morgan, as former Health Minister, and Mr Drakeford as former First Minister, will both be more than aware of the scale of the challenges facing Urgent and Emergency Care in Wales.
“This latest data will be a reminder of the work which needs to be done. And RCEM, as ever, looks forward to working with both ministers to improve the situation in Wales’ Emergency Departments.
“We urge the Welsh Government to act decisively to address these issues. We are just a few short months away from the inevitable seasonal spike in demand, and we must do all we can to mitigate another winter crisis.
“It is nothing less than the people, and health care staff of Wales deserve.”
Graphical representations of the data can be found here.
The full data set can be found here.
