Long waiting times are “continuing to come down” in Wales’ NHS but ambulance performance is “not where we want it to be”, the Welsh Government has said. Latest figures show waiting times have fallen every month for two years and there has been a 71 per cent reduction in long waits since their peak post-pandemic.

“This is a testament to the hard work of our NHS staff who are working tirelessly to deliver high-quality care,” the Welsh Government said.

“We will continue to focus on reducing waiting times and improving access to NHS care and services for people throughout Wales.

"We have also seen improvements in diagnostic waiting times, with the number waiting longer than eight weeks falling to the lowest level since April 2020.

“And there has been a significant increase in performance against the 62-day cancer target in March to 60.5 per cent.

“Performance in emergency departments improved against the four and 12-hour targets in April.

“But ambulance performance is not where we want it to be.

“We have been clear with health boards about the need to release ambulance crews from emergency departments quickly to support faster response times to those in most need.”