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More than 27,000 people in North Wales have waited more than a year for follow-up appointments at North Wales hospitals.

Figures obtained from North Wales' Betsi Cadwaladr University Health show that more than 58,000 people have been waiting longer than they should for outpatient appointments their consultants said they needed to have.

The data, obtained via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, comes on the day publication of increased Emergency Department (ED) waiting times for two of the region's main hospitals brought more scrutiny on senior executives.

The average length of time patients wait between signing in and being either admitted or discharged from EDs in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Wrexham Maelor has more than doubled in the last five years.

In January 2014 it took patients attending EDs an average of three-and-a-quarter hours to get a resolution. By January this year that figure had risen to almost seven hours.

(Image: Daily Post Wales)

Emergency Department waiting times The average length of time between presenting at ED and either being discharged or admitted to hospital - in minutes. Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Wrexham Maelor combined : January 2014 195 July 2014 211 January 2015 290 July 2015 214 January 2016 313 July 2016 264 January 2017 314 July 2017 295 January 2018 389 July 2018 388 January 2019 415

Senior management within Betsi insists it is making progress towards coming out of Special Measures, the highest and most serious form of Welsh Government intervention, despite today being the fourth anniversary of a process that was supposed to last two years. Welsh Government health minister Vaughan Gething recently admitted he couldn't put an end date on the board leaving the process.

Overdue appointments As of April 1, 2019 there were 202,743 patients waiting for a review outpatient appointment within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) area. Number of weeks overdue and percentage of total on list (in brackets): Between six and 13 weeks overdue - 13,317 (6.5%)

Between 14 and 26 weeks overdue - 14,100 (7%)

Between 27 and 52 weeks overdue - 16,157 (8%)

At least 53 weeks overdue - 27,334 (13%)

Total appointments overdue - 70,908 (35% of total)

A recent report by the National Assembly's public accounts committee slammed the rate of progress within the board, saying it feared "Special Measures may now be a normal state of affairs".

After recent calls for Mr Gething to resign over, among other things, the failure of Betsi Cadwaladr to escape Welsh Government intervention, chief executive Gary Doherty refused to be drawn on his own future when asked.

In a recent interview First Minister Mark Drakeford admitted he had "agonised" over whether to split the board into smaller areas.

(Image: Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)

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Mr Doherty said: "We know we cannot achieve our ambitions without our staff and partners. Our staff survey results, feedback from partners and engagement with the public show clear progress.

"We have always accepted that some areas require changes in culture and systems which take time to achieve. However, we are not complacent and will continue to work with our staff and partners to deliver the changes detailed in our plan for the next year and beyond.

"The focus of the whole Board is to deliver the transformational change needed to provide modern, sustainable services for our communities across North Wales. We have already shown our ability to improve services."

Maternity and out of hours GP services have both been taken out of special measures. Mr Doherty also said there were areas such as cancer and infection control where the board was "among the best performers in Wales". He pointed to positive feedback on the "quality and safety of our mental health services" from Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW) and Welsh Government.

Clwyd West AM Darren Millar said Betsi Cadwaladr was "breaking all records" and was unequivocal about who he thought was to blame.

(Image: Daily Post Wales)

"These figures are another example of people being let down in North Wales as we enter the fifth year of Special Measures," he told North Wales Live. "The fact that tens of thousands of people are not getting their appointments on time could be putting them at harm.

"With the Emergency Department waiting figures Betsi Cadwaldr is breaking all records but breaking them for all the wrong reasons. The blame lies at the door of the health minister in Cardiff Bay."