2026 Senedd Election: Unlocking NHS Productivity in Wales

CPOC has published its manifesto for the 2026 Senedd election. It highlights how avoidable issues along the surgical pathway are exacerbating NHS waiting lists and undermining productivity in Wales. To address this, we are calling on political parties to expand efforts to mandate and facilitate the adoption of interventions designed to optimise the care patients receive before and after surgery.  

Executive summary 

NHS waiting lists in Wales are at crisis levels, driven by a wide range of factors which include avoidable postponements of operations, preventable surgical complications, unnecessarily long hospital stays and high readmission rates.

Many of these issues result from the following: patients arriving for surgery in an unfit state; limited shared decision making; inadequate discharge planning; and missed opportunities to accelerate recovery. These can be avoided by:

• action to turn waiting lists into preparation lists, including early screening of patients, then supporting them to improve their health while they wait
• actively including patients in decisions about their care, which can help prevent unnecessary operations and surgical regret
• better procedures to help patients drink, eat and mobilise after surgery, which can improve patient outcomes and reduce length of hospital stay
• better discharge planning, which can reduce readmission rates.

The next Welsh Government must:

• expand efforts to mandate and facilitate the adoption of these interventions
• modernise digital systems across all health boards
• establish an ‘NHS efficiencies transformation fund’ to overcome set-up costs
• monitor service delivery by conducting a regular audit of perioperative care services
• incentivise implementation by modifying Healthcare Inspectorate Wales’ assessment framework
• invest in a workforce fit for the future to deliver these changes.