THE number of patients in Gwent waiting more than eight weeks for a diagnostic test rose slightly during December, the first monthly increase since May last year.

The rise was small - up 25 to 1,510 - and was predicted by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

And it remains committed to eliminating test waits of more than eight weeks by the end of next month, while acknowledging that the task is challenging.

The health board has received a share of an extra £50 million for the NHS in Wales this year, intended to help drive down waiting times. A condition of the extra funding is the wiping out of waits beyond eight weeks, as is a commitment to cutting waits above six weeks to no more than 1,700.

Though progress in reducing long waits for tests stalled in December, considerable progress was made on the issue during 2017.

A reduction to 1,510 patients who had waited more than eight weeks by December 31 represents a drop of almost 75 per cent on the December 2016 figure (6,075).

Within these figures, the longest waits - of more than 24 weeks - were reduced from 655 to 80 during the year to December 31.

Endoscopy presents the biggest challenge in terms of the number of patients waiting beyond eight weeks.

At the end of last year such tests, which include colonosocopy, gastroscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy, accounted for 1,277 of the patients waiting beyond eight weeks in Gwent.

Endoscopy capacity has been boosted through a link with the Emersons Green NHS Treatment Centre in Bristol, which is a key resource in terms of keeping the numbers falling.

More endoscopy sessions have also been introduced at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in Ystrad Mynach.

Long waits in radiology also increased in December, to 202 from 159, but extra capacity has now been put in place.

Increases in long waits in non-obstetric ultrasound were the key reason for this, but there were reductions in such waits for CT scans, and in nuclear medicine.

The latter recorded just nine waits of more than eight weeks by the end of December, despite a continuing shortage of radio-pharmaceuticals, and staffing issues.

Eight-week waits for cardiology, which increased during the autumn, began to fall again in December.