Health correspondent, Wales news
New NHS figures are set to reveal whether a key promise by the first minister to cut waiting times has been hit.
In December, Eluned Morgan pledged to cut the numbers waiting two years or more for planned treatments from 24,000 to about 8,000 by spring.
In February, this figure stood at 15,500 – NHS England had just 147 patients waiting this long – and March’s figures will be published on Wednesday.
Morgan’s guarantee to cut waits for operations such as joint replacements and eye surgery was backed up with £50m for health boards, but came too late for Sarah Thyer, who paid £8,000 for a hip replacement in Lithuania after being told she would have to wait more than two years in Wales.
‘Every day I was struggling’
Ms Thyer, 60, from Sketty, Swansea enjoyed an active life as a charity fundraiser until her left hip deteriorated quickly at the start of 2024.
“It was agony, so much so I had to use a stick. I couldn’t do the activities I usually did like sea swimming and cycling,” she said.
“I had to give up my job because I couldn’t physically do what I needed to do.”
Having osteoarthritis, Ms Thyer knew she would need to a hip replacement, having undergone surgery on her right hip in 2017.
Back then she had waited about eight months for the operation, but was told this time it would be at least triple that.
“You feel completely frustrated… because every day you’re struggling.
“To be told you’ve got another two years after already being on [the list] for about 40 weeks is just depressing because it’s not just the pain, it affects your whole life – it was heartbreaking.”
Following her father’s death earlier this year, Sarah took matters into her own hands and paid to have her hip replaced in a clinic in Lithuania.
She flew out on 2 March, had the operation two days later and “within eight hours” of surgery, was “walking up and down the corridor”.
She can now ride her bike again and walk up stairs “without hanging on to the banister”.
Despite occasionally feeling “angry” about paying for her own treatment, she does not blame NHS staff, but said there was “something wrong in the system”.
While welcoming the Welsh government’s commitment to bring down waiting lists, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) argued progress was “too slow”.
Director in Wales Jon Barry said: “I feel very sorry for those patients who are sitting at home in pain, not being able to get around.”
The RCS wants more surgical hubs in Wales – standalone units that focus on these treatments and can be protected from pressures on A&E.
Prof Barry, also a consultant surgeon in Swansea Bay health board, the area where Ms Thyer lives, said the Welsh government needed to invest in long-term solutions.
He said health boards were able to make inroads, in part, by paying for more evening and weekend working, using the private sector and pooling facilities, staff and resources.
He added: “Instead of spending money at the end of the financial year to get on top of these two-year waits it would be far more beneficial to use that funding 365 days a year to build durable capacity without turning to the private sector.”
Prof Barry said he was confident that Thursday’s figures would show two-year waits being virtually eliminated in his health board and was “proud of the fact we’ve made significant progress”.
Back at home, Sarah realises the progress has come too late for her and does not regret her decision, but recognised others could not afford to do the same.
She said: “I was lucky to be in that position. Obviously I would prefer to be paying £8,000 on a few holidays, a new bathroom, kitchen or car, but nothing is better than waking up in the morning and not having that excruciating pain.
“So I would pay it again tomorrow.”
