HYWEL Dda Health Board is one of the best in Wales for ensuring suspected bowel cancer patients receive diagnostic tests within the eight-week target, new figures have revealed.

The health board met the target for ensuring that patients can access colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy appointments.

But Bowel Cancer UK has warned that the Welsh Government must do more across the country after it emerged that four of the seven Welsh health boards don’t meet the target.

Hywel Dda and Betsi Cadwaladr boards both performed well in the figures for February 2017, but the figures show that over half of patients in the Aneurin Bevan Health Board are waiting for longer than the target time.

Asha Kaur, the head of policy and campaigns at Bowel Cancer UK, said it was disappointing that more than half of the health boards in Wales were failing to meet targets and said it was vital that the Welsh Government does more to ensure that health boards can meet demand and have the facilities to be able to offer quick diagnostic tests.

She said: “We’re yet to see any commitment from the Welsh Government that would substantially increase the capacity of endoscopy for health boards to enable them to see patients within the waiting time target.

“There also needs to be a comprehensive assessment of current and future demand for the service so they can better plan what capacity is needed."

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