PATIENTS waiting more than 36 weeks for orthopaedic and eye treatments in Gwent hospitals accounted for almost 85 per cent of the total of such waits in the area at the end of June.

New figures show that of the 3,216 patients who had been waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment at June 30, 1,712 were waiting for orthopaedic operations, such as hip and knee replacements, while 999 were awaiting eye-related procedures.

The two specialities have more often than not been at the top of the list in Gwent when it comes to having the most long waiting patients.

But the numbers are now such that it will take many months of sustained effort to eliminate waits of more than 36 weeks in orthopaedics and ophthalmology - and that will have to be done against a background of a continuing squeeze of NHS budgets, workforce issues, and ever more challenging winters when bed capacity problems often trigger cancellations of surgery.

The June figure for waits of more than 36 weeks in orthopaedics represented a small fall on that for May, but apart from a sizeable reduction in March, the long term trend has been upward.

The number of patients waiting more than 36 weeks in orthopaedics has not been below 1,000 for more than a year, and the June figure of 1,712 is 564 higher than that for the same month last year.

Around 120 more cases have been treated in the first quarter of 2015/16 compared to the same period last year, however, which contributed to the small reduction in numbers in June, and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has bought extra operating slots with other hospitals, which it hopes will improve the position further during the rest of 2015.

In ophthalmology, recruitment has been a key problem contributing to a rising number of patients waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment.

The number of such waits doubled between the end of March and June 30, but like last year, the provision of extra capacity outside Gwent is an option that is likely to be taken up, to help deal with the problem.

Of the remaining 505 patients waiting longer than 36 weeks by the end of June, 229 were in general surgery - but this was a reduction of 56 on the previous month.