The “dire” state of NHS waiting lists was exposed in fascinating detail today with data showing patients in Wales are faring much worse than in England.
Almost one in 20 patients have been forced to wait more than a year for treatment in the Labour-ruled nation.
It marks a four-fold increase in the space of a decade, illustrating the extent of the crisis which has seen some patients even cash in on pensions and raid family savings to go private in a bid to avoid long NHS queues.
In comparison, the equivalent figure in England is just 0.5 patients per 100.
Critics today warned that this could be what the NHS could look like under a Labour-led government if Sir Keir Starmer’s party triumphed in the general election.
Labor Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting met patients and staff at Bassetlaw Hospital in Nottinghamshire to discuss Labour’s plan to reduce NHS waiting lists if they come to power .
According to analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), The proportion of patients in Wales waiting more than a year for treatment peaked in August 2022, at 5.7 people per 100.
Meanwhile, England faced its own peak of just 0.8 in August 2021.
This analysis also showed that overall, as of March 2024 (the latest data available), 21.6 people in every 100 are waiting to start NHS treatment in Wales. Meanwhile, in England the figure stands at 13 percent.
A Conservative Party spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘In Labour-governed Wales, overall waiting records have hit an all-time high, with patients nine times more likely than those in England to have to wait more than a year. to receive treatment.
‘The evidence is clear for all to see: when Labor is in charge of the NHS, patients are worse off.
“In contrast, the Conservatives’ bold action has virtually eliminated the longest waits of more than 18 months and overall waiting lists are falling at the fastest rate in more than a decade outside of the pandemic.”
MailOnline has approached the Labor Party for comment.
The same ONS data He also suggested there were “significantly” more people waiting for NHS treatment in Wales than in the rest of the UK.
Just under a third of respondents in Wales (29 per cent) reported that they were currently waiting for an NHS appointment, test or treatment between October 2023 and March 2024.
By comparison, the figure was a quarter in England and 22 per cent in Scotland.
However, differences in the way data is collected in Scotland mean that 52-week waits in the country are not comparable to those in England or Wales.
Instead, data is recorded for patients waiting at different stages of treatment, such as waiting to attend a first outpatient appointment after a referral or to be admitted for inpatient or day treatment.
It comes as data from last year showed patients were waiting an average of five weeks longer for NHS treatment in Wales than in England.
Some Welsh patients even reported fleeing to England for treatment due to delays.
However, the latest figures from NHS England show that around 6.33 million patients were waiting for 7.57 million treatments at the end of April in England.
This represents an increase from 6.29 million patients and 7.54 million treatments at the end of March.
More than 300,000 people had been waiting for more than a year, compared to less than 2,000 before the pandemic.
Public satisfaction with the NHS overall has also fallen across the UK to its lowest level on record.
Less than one in four (24 per cent) people were happy with the health service in 2023, down five percentage points from the previous year.
According to the latest results from the British Social Attitudes Survey, more than half (52 per cent) are now dissatisfied with the NHS, the highest proportion since the survey began.
The main reasons for dissatisfaction are waiting times for GP and hospital appointments (71 per cent), followed by staff shortages (54 per cent) and the fact that the Government is not spending enough money in the NHS (47 per cent), despite record investment.