The NHS in Wales has made considerable progress in reducing long waiting times and in tackling their causes strategically, according to the Auditor General for Wales, Jeremy Colman. And his report to the Assembly’s Audit Committee says that there are still some known risks that will need careful management in order to deliver and sustain the Welsh Assembly Government’s ambitious target that by December 2009 no patient should wait more than six months from GP referral to treatment.

The report follows up on the Assembly’s Audit Committee report: NHS Waiting Times, which was published in May 2005. It concludes that the Assembly Government has made progress in discharging each of the Audit Committee’s recommendations.

Today’s report makes two further recommendations for improvement. It calls on the Assembly Government to commission work to test the accuracy of waiting list data; and that the Assembly Government should include longer-term objectives in its planning to sustain waiting times performance beyond its plans to deliver a balance between demand and capacity by December 2009.

The Assembly Audit Committee will discuss this report at their next meeting on 6 July and will take evidence from Ann Lloyd, Director of Health and Social Services at the Welsh Assembly Government.

• This report is prepared for the Auditor General for Wales by the Wales Audit Office.
• It follows-up on the Audit Committee report: NHS Waiting Times, which was published in May 2005. The Auditor General’s original report: NHS Waiting Times in Wales was published in January 2005.
• The Wales Audit Office is independent of government and is responsible for the annual audit of some £19 billion of annual public expenditure.
• Its mission is to promote improvement, so that people in Wales benefit from accountable, well-managed public services that offer the best possible value for money. It is also committed to identify and spreading good practice across the Welsh public sector.
• The Wales Audit Office was created in April 2005 through the Public Audit (Wales) Act, 2004, which expanded the functions of the Auditor General for Wales and enabled the transfer of staffs from the Audit Commission in Wales and National Audit Office in Wales to his employment.