NO waits longer than seven days for a GP appointment and recruiting more doctors could improve the NHS in Gwent.

That’s according to candidates seeking the support of voters at May’s Senedd election where the health service, and its performance, will be a major issue.

The Welsh Government spends around half of its total budget, which is £27 billion this year, on health and social care but too often headlines around the NHS feature stretched budgets, long waiting lists and patient dissatisfaction.

While official figures show hospital waiting lists fell in February, for the eighth month in a row and down 28,000 from January, the picture is mixed with the number of patients waiting longer than the target times for both diagnostics and therapies having risen to the highest on record since 2024.

In an effort to respond to concerns over waiting times the Welsh Government invested £120m over the past year to increase the number of operations performed.

But locally the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which is responsible for NHS services and hospitals in Gwent, has planned for the number of patients waiting two years for some surgeries to increase over the next 12 months without further additional funding being available.

With elections to the Senedd to be held in May candidates standing in two of the new super constituencies covering Gwent have been asked how their parties will approach improving the ambulance service, waits to see GPs and emergency care.

Gwent has already seen significant investment, and knock-on changes to services, with the opening of the Grange Hospital at Cwmbran shortly before the last Senedd election in 2021.

While that created a centralised critical care centre it has also meant accident and emergency units at Newport’s Royal Gwent, Nevill Hall in Abergavenny and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, in Ystrad Mynch, operate as minor injuries units.

Labour is promising three new hospitals, in Wrexham, west Wales and Cardiff which Anthony Hunt, one of the candidates the party is putting forward for the six seats in the Sir Fynwy Torfaen constituency, called a “£4 billion fund” that will “modernise services”.

“We know we need to go further on this,” said the Torfaen council leader in response to how it would improve access to GP services. Labour has promised people will be able to access a primary health care professional within 48 hours in urgent cases.

He also defended his party’s record: “We’ve created more capacity in GP practices by bolstering the free advice and treatment you can get from pharmacies.”

Reform UK, whose top candidate in Casnewydd Islwyn, which covers all of Newport and the Islwyn constituency that includes Risca and Blackwood, Dan Thomas is hoping to become First Minister in May also highlighted more use of pharmacies as a way of easing pressure on GPs.

He said: “We’re going to work with GPs to improve access through workforce and service redesign. We’ll also expand pharmacy clinical services so more care can be provided in the community to take pressure off GPs.”

The election, which many believe will see Labour lose its grip on power in Cardiff Bay, is being pitted as a straight fight between Reform and Plaid Cymru, which may have a more likely route to power as it shares common ground with other left wing or left leaning parties. Support form across the expanded 96 member Senedd is likely to be required to form a government with the fully proportional system intended to make single party majorities less likely.

Peredur Owen Griffiths, who has represented the South East Wales region since 2021, aims to win one of the six Casnewydd Islwyn seats for Plaid Cymru and said the party would increase the number of GPs directly employed by the NHS. Most surgeries are run by doctors in private partnership who hold contracts with the health service.

He said: “Plaid Cymru wants to recruit up to 100 salaried GPs to increase the availability of appointments. We also want to invest in digitisation, including the implementation of a national telehealth programme, to further increase access to GP and related health services.”

The Conservatives, whose current Senedd Member for Monmouth Peter Fox, will contest the Sir Fynwy Torfaen seat, has, similar to Reform, promised to work with surgeries on staffing but has an eye-catching promise on appointments.

Mr Fox said: “We will invest in primary care, recruit and retain more staff while working with GP surgeries. We will guarantee that patients don’t have to wait longer than seven calendar days for an appointment.”

The Liberal Democrats also have a similar promise and its Casnewydd Islwyn candidate Mike Hamilton said: “Everyone should be able to see their GP within a week, or sooner if the case is more urgent.”

Ian Chandler, who is the Green Party’s top ranked candidate in Sir Fynwy Torfaen, said it would “restore the share of NHS funding for primary care, enabling more GPs, nurses and community health workers—expanding capacity, improving access, and shifting care closer to home.”

The Green candidate also acknowledged “some improvements” have been made in waits to be seen at the Grange Hospital’s emergency department and minore injury units but said “more needs to be done”.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board figures show during February it achieved 92 to 93 per cent compliance with a target patients are seen within 12 hours which it described as “relatively stable”.

All candidates agreed steps to improve “patient flow” through hospitals, which would free up beds and is often dependent on care in the community being available, would ease pressures at the Grange, which is consistent with the health board’s position.

It has also reported the times ambulances spend waiting to handover patients at the Grange is above target, which was another issue recognised by all candidates as impacting the ambulane service locally and access to emergency care.