Waiting times in Wales see small fall as surgeons say accessing operating theatres is a major challenge

Surgeons have warned that problems accessing operating theatres are contributing to long waiting times for hospital treatment across the UK, including in Wales. The warning comes as the latest data for Wales show a small fall in waiting times in November 2023, with the figure having fluctuated between rising and falling for a number of months.

Official data published by Stats Wales show that the waiting list for planned consultant-led treatment in Wales reached 758,815 in November 2023. The figures also show there are now 442,182 pathways waiting up to 26 weeks and 82,170 waiting between 26 weeks and 36 week. The number waiting over 36 weeks has increased to 234,463, up from 231,928 in October 2023. 

Earlier today, the Royal College of Surgeons of England published the findings of its 2023 UK surgical workforce census. RCS England found more than half (56%) of the UK surgical workforce find that operating theatre access is a major challenge. That figure rises to 62% for survey respondents in Wales.

Responding to the waiting time figures, Professor Jon Barry, Director in Wales at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said:

“A small fall in waits for planned treatment in Wales will be welcome news to patients, and NHS staff, who are working incredibly hard to reduce waits, will be relieved too. However, we cannot ignore the fact waits have been fluctuating between rising and falling for a number of months now, and we haven’t seen a significant or sustained fall for some time.

“The results of RCS England’s latest surgical workforce census tell us that accessing operating theatres is a major challenge and this will undoubtedly be contributing to long waiting times. 62% of respondents in Wales said this was a major challenge.  If surgical teams cannot get into operating theatres, patients will continue to endure unacceptably long waits for surgery.

“Surgical hubs will provide much needed extra capacity. However, limitations remain when the number of operating theatres and staff is insufficient to meet the demand.

“Our survey findings show that we have a very unhappy workforce that is suffering from burnout. Across the UK, 61% of respondents cited burnout and stress as a major challenge with that figure rising to 62% in Wales. The census suggests a significant number of staff have considered leaving their roles.

“There is a lot of work to be done to retain staff at all levels by reducing burnout and improving morale. This includes tackling bullying and harassment, sexual misconduct, and enabling flexibility. There must also be improvements in the working environment, such as providing places to rest, availability of hot meals and dedicated places for personal study.”

RCS England surveyed the whole surgical workforce to identify the key challenges facing surgical teams and to inform workforce planning. This includes consultants, surgeons in training, specialty and associate specialist (SAS), locally employed doctors in surgery (LEDs) and members of the extended surgical team (EST).

The full findings of the RCS England’s new report, Advancing the Surgical Workforce: UK Surgical Workforce Census Report, is available to read here: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/standards-and-research/surgical-workforce-census/ 

Further data relating to responses received from the surgical workforce in Wales are available on request.

ENDS

Notes to editors: 

1. Full, historical Stats Wales Referral to Treatment Waiting Times can be found here: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Health-and-Social-Care/NHS-Hospital-Waiting-Times/Referral-to-Treatment/patientpathwayswaitingtostarttreatment-by-month-groupedweeks
2. The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) provides world-class education, assessment, and development to 30,000 surgeons, dental professionals, and members of the wider surgical and dental care teams, at all stages of their career. Our vision is to see excellent surgical care for everyone. We do this by setting professional standards, facilitating research, and championing the best outcomes for patients.
3. Contact details for the RCS England press office are as follows: telephone: 020 7869 6053/6054/6047; email: pressoffice@rcseng.ac.uk; out-of-hours media enquiries: 0207 869 6056.
4. In March 2016, Stats Wales changed some of the terminology used in referral to treatment reporting. Previously, when publishing these statistics, they used the terminology patients. However, now, it is possible that a person could be on several different lists waiting for different conditions – i.e., there would be one patient but more than one pathway. Due to the RTT dataset being an aggregate data collection, Stats Wales says they are not able to measure the number of unique patients. Therefore, they are using the terminology ‘patient pathways,’ to reflect the fact that one person can be on multiple waiting lists. See more information here.