Waiting lists for NHS treatment remain shamefully high, leaving constituents languishing in pain for unacceptably long periods of time.

The health service in Wales is under immense pressure, and that’s no reflection of our hardworking and dedicated staff – it is down to years of mismanagement from successive Labour Welsh Governments.

Across Wales, we have just shy of 780,000 patient pathways open, the equivalent of nearly 1-in-4 people.

Two year waits for treatment are on the up again in Wales at 9,600 whereas in England it’s just 171,

Just 50 per cent of red calls – the most serious – received an emergency response within the eight minute target time, and we’re still failing to hit the target of 95 per cent of patients waiting less than four hours in Welsh A&E departments.

That’s the shocking national picture, and I’m afraid to say locally things aren’t much better.

We have more than 141,000 patient pathways within the Aneurin Bevan Health Board with 14,716 patients waiting over a year for a first appointment.

A staggering 24,666 patients have been waiting longer than a year for treatment as of April 2025.

Not only that, 374 patients were waiting more than two years for treatment as of April 2025.

The Grange Hospital has 57.5 per cent of patients waiting less than four hours in its emergency department, the fourth worst in Wales.

Shockingly, 1,115 patients were waiting more than 12 hours at The Grange in May this year – which works out to be 15 per cent of total patients seen at the department.

These aren’t just statistics. These are our family members, our friends, our neighbours.

Recently, the Senior South Wales Central Coroner wrote a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the First Minister following the death of Valerie Hill, who died of pneumonia following a fall and a 14 hour wait for an ambulance.

The coroner warned the Welsh government that many patients are dying in Wales because of long ambulance waits.

Not only that, but he also warned that more people could die unless something is done to reduce the time it takes to handover patients from paramedics to hospitals.

Something needs to change urgently.

Recently the Welsh Conservatives brought forward a debate urging the Welsh Government to declare a health emergency so all efforts can be directed to driving waiting lessons down.

Shockingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, Labour politicians in the Senedd and their Plaid Cymru pals blocked the move.