The Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised the Welsh Labour Government over the latest NHS Wales statistics, describing record-high treatment waiting lists and long ambulance wait times as “obscene”.

The party has called on the Welsh Government to go further and faster with reforms and to put in place targets when it comes to reducing waiting lists.

They have also called on the UK Government to ensure Wales gets its fair share of funding from the upcoming budget to tackle the crisis in the NHS and social care.

The latest statistics for Powys show that 48 per cent of amber ambulance calls are not answered within an hour. 52 per cent of red calls are not attended to within the 8-minute target time.

Both metrics have seen a further deterioration from last month.

Across Wales, the number of people on an NHS waiting list has reached over 800,000. This figure is the highest on record.

Within Powys, 1,517 patients have been waiting for more than a year while 173 patients have been waiting for more than two years.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid and West Wales MS, Jane Dodds said: “These latest figures are truly obscene. It is outrageous that Labour has allowed us to get to the point where 800,000 people in a country of 3 million are stuck on a waiting list.

“For the entirety of this Senedd term, Labour has been promising to tackle the crisis in our NHS yet waiting lists have continued to get worse and worse. We need a different approach.

“We need real tangible targets to drive down waiting lists, the current situation is costing lives, and it cannot go on.”

MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said: “The current situation is intolerable. Week in and week out we hear horror stories from constituents who have had to deal with the impacts of long ambulance waiting times or who are stuck languishing on waiting lists.

“We need to fix social care and access to GPs to help take the pressure off of our A&E departments. The Welsh Liberal Democrats will be fighting for extra funding for Wales at the upcoming UK and Welsh Government budgets in order to tackle this crisis.”

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Jeremy Miles today announced £28m to help the NHS cut the longest waiting times.

“Reducing waiting times is a national priority – for people across Wales, for us and the NHS,” he said.

“This new funding will be used by health boards to deliver a range of schemes that will start almost immediately.”

“They will target the longest waits in orthopaedics, general surgery, ophthalmology and gynaecology by increasing capacity for more people to be seen and treated through overtime and more regional working,” said Mr Miles.