The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is calling on the new Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to urgently lay out its plans to tackle Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding.

The latest official performance figures for Welsh EDs were published today, and showed that around one in six people who attended A&E in August waited more than 12 hours before being discharged, admitted or transferred.

With waiting times showing no improvements on 2025, RCEM is airing its concerns ahead of winter – where seasonal illnesses and cold weather will bring even more pressure on an already overwhelmed system.

Dr Rob Perry, Royal College of Emergency Medicine Wales Vice President, said: “Every month, thousands of our patients are left waiting for hours and hours in Welsh Emergency Departments (EDs).

“This unacceptable state of affairs, it seems, is still not improving – not even in the warmer months of summer. In times gone by, August was an ‘easier’ month in ED – but now we’re seeing long waits for patients the likes of which would have horrified us in the depths of winter.

“Our EDs are in a year-round crisis in which patients are being left to languish in our departments for, all too often, more than half a day. If this is what summer looked like, I fear for winter.

“It is uncomfortable, undignified – and moreover it is dangerous. We know that there is an association with long stays in ED and harm to patients.

“The new Welsh Government has signalled that it is working on a plan to address this.

“But with each day, week or month that go by without concrete action, our patients are suffering. Meanwhile, staff are trying their hardest to give the best care possible to patients.

“This is not sustainable and I call on the government to expedite their plans to reduce ED overcrowding, restore patient flow through hospitals and reduce long stays.”

The stats also showed that:

  • Only around half (50.5%) of patients waited fewer than four hours in an ED. The system-wide target is 95%
  • On average, each day a total of 1,374 ward beds were occupied by patients who are medically fit to leave

Commenting on the latest statistics, Reform Wales’ Interim Leader Helen Jenner MS said: “Another month of Plaid Cymru has brought another month of worsening NHS figures for patients.

“These figures show Plaid are struggling to get a grip on the continuing crisis in our NHS. Instead of holding separatist meetings looking to break up the United Kingdom, Plaid should be getting on with the day job.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Minister for Health and Social Care, Natasha Asghar MS said: “These figures show that the pressures on our NHS continue to grow under Plaid, with waiting lists and two-year waits failing to improve.

“Patients are waiting longer for treatment, cancer targets are still being missed, thousands are facing waits of more than two years, ambulances continue to miss response targets and almost 11,000 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E in August.”