Latest figures show waiting times of more than two years fell to just under 8,400 at the end of March 2025, their lowest level since April 2021, but opposition parties said this was above the Government's pledge to bring the figure down to 8,000 by this spring.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, Jane Dodds, said: ‘Two-year-long waiting lists for NHS treatment are unacceptable, given England virtually wiped out waits of this length several years ago, serious questions remain about how Labour have managed the NHS in Wales.

‘People should never be forced to go private because they are spending months in pain waiting for treatment; the public deserves better.'

Health secretary, Jeremy Miles, said: ‘The latest NHS performance figures show long waiting times are now at their lowest levels since April 2021 and the overall size of the waiting list has fallen for four months in a row.

‘Our focus is now on supporting the NHS to continue to eliminate all two-year waits; to reduce the overall waiting list by 200,000 over the course of this year and to restore the maximum eight week waiting time for diagnostic tests by March 2026.'

‘This is an ambitious aim and will require hard work over the coming year from everyone in the health service, but I am confident that together we can achieve this.'