Responding the Welsh Government’s announcement of £50m to cut waiting times in Wales, Nesta Lloyd-Jones, Interim Director of the Welsh NHS Confederation said:

“The NHS in Wales welcomes the additional funding which will help improve the care we can offer patients. The well-documented pressures being felt right across the NHS in Wales don’t just happen at certain times of the year anymore, they are felt all year round.

“There continues to be high demand on our Emergency Departments across Wales, which is why we are pleased to see some of this funding going towards projects and initiatives which help to keep people in their communities and closer to their homes for longer.

“We will however continue to highlight the need for more funding for social care and local community services. Our ability to deliver sustainable high quality, timely healthcare is heavily dependent on the availability of social care and other local community services.

“In the meantime the NHS will continue to work with partners so that together we can make the best of all the resources available to us.”