More surgical hubs are on the way in England but still none for Wales

Labour-run Wales continues to suffer from an absence of surgical hubs while dozens more have been announced in England to combat NHS waiting lists.

NHS England announced 37 new surgical hubs, 10 expanded existing hubs and 81 new theatres dedicated to elective care, providing an estimated 780,000 additional surgeries and outpatient appointments earlier this week.

It stated that the UK Conservative Government have “virtually eliminated two-year waits for care while December saw the backlog go down for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic,” in England.

However, responses to Welsh Conservative written questions and freedom of information requests have confirmed there are “no surgical hubs” in Labour-run Wales, where 50,000 people are still waiting over two years for treatment.

The latest figures show nearly a quarter (24%) of the Welsh population are on a waiting list, with the number of people waiting over two years for treatment now at 49,594, despite such waits being virtually eliminated in England and Scotland.

Meanwhile, 1-in-4 Welsh patients waited over a year for treatment, but only 1-in-20 do so in England. The median waiting time for that same month in Wales was 21.2 weeks compared to 13.6 in England.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Health Russell George MS said:

“It is inexplicable that the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay continue to deny the people of Wales access to surgical hubs when we see the progress they are making in England.

“When NHS England say surgical hubs have helped them eliminate two-year waits, while they are now making significant progress on 18-month waits, Labour-run Wales still has 50,000 people waiting over two years.

“Labour’s minister insists there are surgical hubs in Wales, but they are neither acknowledged by name nor do they fulfil the requirements – England’s hubs offer a range of treatments, while they are more specialised in Wales and at a much smaller number.

“As we have doing since summer 2020, we urge the Labour Government to put proper surgical hubs in Wales to put an end to us having the longest waiting times in Britain.”

Surgical hubs are separated from emergency services in hospitals meaning tests and operations can continue in one place, largely unaffected by increased pressure in other parts of the hospital, such as covid and flu.

Since the elective recovery plan was published last year, NHS England has performed almost 120m diagnostic tests – 6% higher than in the same period last year – and offered 13.5m elective appointments and treatments – 9% higher than in the same period last year.

Elective care was delivered for 70,000 more patients in November compared to the same period pre-pandemic, meaning the waiting list dropped by almost 30,000 compared to the month before.