NHS performance figures for April and May are 'disappointing' according to the Welsh Government.

The government released its thoughts on the recently published NHS statistics.

A government spokesperson commented on the issue, saying: "This is a disappointing set of NHS performance figures for April and May and shows we still have a long way to go to reduce long waits which built up during the pandemic.

"The overall waiting list has grown again and, after 24 months of consecutive falls, the number of people waiting more than two years for treatment has increased."

The Welsh Government noted that part of the reason for the longer waits may be due to a reduction in activity during the Easter period.

Aside from the long wait times for treatments, the government has noticed increased activity in other areas.

For instance, April marked the second-highest average daily new referrals for any month on record.

The spokesperson said: "More people started their first cancer treatment in April than in March and more people were given the good news they don’t have cancer than the previous month."

However, the Welsh Government acknowledges that it needs to do better in certain areas.

The spokesperson said: "But despite treating more new and existing cancer patients in April, delivery against the cancer target fell.

"We are determined to improve consistency against this target for people who are referred with suspected cancer."

The emergency care departments in NHS Wales are also managing enormous workloads.

These have only increased during and following the pandemic.

"The number of immediately life-threatening 999 calls in May was 25 per cent higher than the previous year and demand is nearly two-and-a-half times higher than pre-pandemic levels," the spokesperson said.

Despite the heavy demand, the government noted improvements.

"More people received a response within eight minutes compared to May last year but ambulance response times are still not where we, the ambulance service or the public want them to be."

"Emergency admissions also fell by 2.3 per cent, which is a testament to the success of new services we have funded to help keep people out of hospital," the spokesperson added.

The government reassured that they will continue to support NHS' efforts to improve and adapt.

"We will continue to support our incredibly hard-working NHS staff as they provide life-saving and life-changing care," the spokesperson concluded.

In an optimistic note, the spokesperson expressed hope for progress.

"We are very hopeful that junior doctors, consultants and SAS doctors will vote for the recommendations made by the BMA Wales Committees to accept the recent pay offers so that we can all focus our efforts on ensuring the best possible clinical outcomes for the people of Wales."