In response to Wales’ health secretary’s plan to reduce waiting lists, Plaid Cymru has said that Labour is ‘shifting blame’ on NHS patients.

Wales’ Health Secretary Jeremy Miles is set to unveil an ambitious strategy to reduce the waiting list by 200,000, eliminate two-year waiting times for planned treatment and restore a maximum eight-week wait for tests by March 2026.

He will also set out a new “patient deal” to help people track their place on the waiting list and to crack down on the 700,000 outpatient appointments which are missed or cancelled every year.

It is hoped more efficient use of healthcare resources will have a significant impact on the number of people being treated in Wales.

Responding to proposals by Wales’ health secretary Jeremy Miles to reduce waiting lists, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for health and social care, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, said: “There has so far been no consequence for over 26 years of managed decline in our NHS by this Labour Government.

“There are currently over 600,000 people still waiting for NHS treatment in Wales. Labour have had a generation to sort out our NHS, but instead of taking accountability, they shift the blame elsewhere - while placing greater responsibility on patients and cutting prevention budgets.

“Plaid Cymru has a plan to tackle NHS waiting lists. Earlier this year we announced actions that a Plaid Cymru government would take on day one, including establishing a new executive triage system; strengthening collaboration between health boards to identify spare capacity; embracing telemedicine to speed up assessments; matching staffing levels to demand in key specialities; and creating temporary surgical hubs across Wales to get people treated faster.

“Wales - and the NHS - needs a fresh start. No more sticking plaster solutions or short-term thinking. Only Plaid Cymru has the energy, the ideas and the plans, developed in tandem with clinicians and health experts, to deliver the change our health service so desperately needs.”