Responding to findings from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has established thousands of hours are missed from monthly figures, Jane Dodds MS said:

“It would now appear that for nearly a decade, the Welsh Government has used these false figures to create an incorrect image about the true extent of the problems facing our A&E departments here in Wales.

“We were originally led to believe that the waiting times in Wales were considerably lower than that of nearby England. But now we know this not to be the case.

I would urge the Welsh Government to immediately rectify this failure and urgently set out a plan to address what is likely to be a poorer picture for A&E performance.”