Surgeons: Give financial certainty to Health Boards now, to protect planned care in the coming months  

The waiting list for hospital treatment in Wales has seen a small fall. 
 
In June 2025, 794,543 patient pathways were waiting for treatment, slightly down from 796,148 in May 2025. The total number of patient pathways waiting longer than two years stands at 7,447, a decrease of 27.4% from 10,254 in May 2025.  
 
The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) has welcomed the progress made: a result of the hard work of Health Board staff and the additional resources provided by Welsh Government. This is tempered by the persistently high overall number of patient pathways waiting for treatment. If unchecked, this threatens to undermine both the good progress made and the Welsh Government’s ambition to reduce the waiting list by 200,000 by March 2026. A commitment from Welsh Government to establish more surgical hubs across Wales is needed to enable a consistent and sustainable approach to reducing waiting times. 
 
Surgical hubs protect planned care from disruption by separating it from emergency admissions. This reduces short-notice cancellations and helps cut waiting times, meaning patients have a reduced likelihood of physical deterioration, mental strain, or complex recoveries.  
 
Responding to the figures, Professor Jon Barry, Director in Wales at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said:  
 
“As we transition from the summer months to the high-pressure winter period, the ever-present risk of emergency admissions undermining planned care progress becomes even more acute. For the Welsh NHS to be in the best position for winter preparedness, increases in planned care funding need to be committed to now.  
  
“Advanced financial certainty will empower Health Boards to plan effectively, safeguard scheduled procedures and mitigate the impact of winter pressures.  
 
“Innovative approaches, such as the use of mobile theatres, have already helped maintain consistent access to planned care. The Welsh Government should learn from this and deliver timely support to hospitals to scale up initiatives. The College continues to advocate for the increase in surgical hubs in Wales, to enable a consistent and sustainable approach to reducing waiting times. Only then will the ambition to reduce waiting times be realised.”  

Notes to editors 

 
1. 794,543 patient pathways waiting to start treatment at the end of June 2025. 796,148 patient pathways were waiting to start treatment at the end of May 2025. There were just under 791,511 patient pathways waiting to start treatment at the end of June 2024.  

2. NHS Wales waiting time targets:  
a. No patients waiting longer than two years in most specialities by March 2023, and no patients waiting longer than one year in most specialities by Spring 2025 (new targets established in the planned care recovery plan).  
b. 95% of patients waiting less than 26 weeks from referral.  
c. No patients waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment from referral.  

3. In April 2025, Welsh Government outlined waiting times ambitions to be met by March 2026: 
a. Reduce the waiting list by 200,000 
b. Eliminate two-year waiting times for planned treatment 
c. Restore a maximum eight-week wait for tests 

4. Full patient pathways waiting to start treatment by month, grouped weeks and stage of pathway: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Health-and-Social-Care/NHS-Hospital-Waiting-Times/Referral-to-Treatment/patientpathwayswaitingtostarttreatment-by-month-groupedweeks

5. Data for patients waiting over one and two years to start treatment is drawn from the Welsh Government’s NHS activity and performance summary: June and July 2025: https://www.gov.wales/nhs-activity-and-performance-summary-june-and-july-2025

6. The ‘patient pathway’ data released by Stats Wales covers the period of time from referral by a GP or other medical practitioner to hospital for treatment in the NHS in Wales. The data includes time spent waiting for any hospital appointments, tests, surgery, scans, or other procedures.  

7. 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.  

8. 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.  

9. For more information, please contact the RCS England press office: telephone: 020 7869 6054/6047; email: pressoffice@rcseng.ac.uk; out-of-hours media enquiries: 0207 869 6056.