London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Aug 20, 2025

Covid: £100m to 'kick start' NHS waiting list backlog

Covid: £100m to 'kick start' NHS waiting list backlog

An initial £100m will be spent to try to deal with the record backlog of NHS treatments caused by the pandemic, Wales' new health minister has said.

Eluned Morgan said the money will "kick start" the recovery of the health and care system.

All health boards will get a share of the funding for new equipment, staff and promoting "new ways of working".

Last month NHS Wales statistics showed more people were on waiting lists than ever before.

Those figures also showed there had been an eightfold increase in the number of patients waiting more than nine months for planned treatments.

In announcing the funding, the health minister said the money would not only support staff but also "transform services" so they were "fit for the future".

"The remarkable commitment of our NHS and social care workers has helped us through this pandemic to a point where we can now start to think about the future," she said.

"I am determined that we now provide them the support they need to help the service recover."

She added she was "under no illusions about the size of the task ahead", but stressed there was a "real opportunity to transform the delivery of health and care services".

"We must take this opportunity to create a health and care system that is fit for the future. The pandemic saw the early and swift adoption of new technology and ways of working, I want to see health boards build on this good work," she said.

But cancer charities have concerns about the impact of the pandemic on waiting times for both patients and staff.

Richard Pugh, head of Macmillan Cancer Support in Wales, told BBC Wales: "The backlog is a worry because people are coming in to the system.

"These incredible staff are fatigued. We weren't in the best place with cancer before this. The complications are that more people are coming in and the system can't cope.

"We warned about this months ago. The key thing is supporting the staff but our worry is the new numbers coming in."

How will the £100m be shared?


* Cardiff & Vale will get £13m to increase capacity for a range of therapies and diagnostics, including staff recruitment and two new mobile theatres
* Powys will get £2.5m to transform patient services and increase capacity for a range of services
* Cwm Taf Morgannwg will use £16m for recruitment and investment in surgical and diagnostic capacity
* Hywel Dda is to receive £13m to improve capacity for planned care, including hospital redesign and investment in diagnostics
* Aneurin Bevan will get £17m for projects to increased capacity in planned care, diagnostics, therapies and mental health
* Swansea Bay will use £16m to increase capacity in a wide range of areas, including theatres, recruitment and ophthalmology
* Betsi Cadwaldr will get £20m to increase capacity in planned care, cancer, dental, diagnostics and endoscopy
* Velindre will use £2.5m to increase capacity for radiotherapy.

The initial £100m funding was announced in March by Vaughan Gething, the previous health minister, ahead of the Senedd election.

During the subsequent election campaign, Labour promised £1bn would be spent over a number of years on an NHS recovery plan.

Staff are "exhausted", says NHS Wales boss Dr Andrew Goodall

NHS Wales chief executive Dr Andrew Goodall had previously warned staff were "exhausted" and said tackling the NHS could take "years to recover".

Figures published last month showed, as of February, waiting lists had hit record levels with 549,353 awaiting treatment or surgery. This is the equivalent of 17% of the Welsh population.

The statistics also showed almost 218,000 had been waiting more than 36 weeks - nine months - for treatment by February this year.

That is about eight times higher than in the same period last year, before the pandemic officially hit.

The latest NHS Wales performance statistics will be published at 09:30 BST on Thursday.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
The World Economic Forum has cleared Klaus Schwab of “material wrongdoing” after a law firm conducted a review into potential misconduct of the institution’s founder
The Mystery Captivating the Internet: Where Has the Social Media Star Gone?
Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agents in Washington Charged with Assault – Identified as Justice Department Employee
A Computer That Listens, Sees, and Acts: What to Expect from Windows 12
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
UK has added India to a list of countries whose nationals, convicted of crimes, will face immediate deportation without the option to appeal from within the UK
Southwest Airlines Apologizes After 'Accidentally Forgetting' Two Blind Passengers at New Orleans Airport and Faces Criticism Over Poor Service for Passengers with Disabilities
Russian Forces Advance on Donetsk Front, Cutting Key Supply Routes Near Pokrovsk
×