Shocking waiting lists in the Welsh NHS mean patients are dying before they can be treated, it emerged last night. Others become too ill for doctors to save their lives because of the length of time before tests or surgery. Faced with the potentially fatal delays, many Welsh patients end up raiding their life savings to pay for private treatment. Fears: Jeremy Hunt demanded that international watchdogs be allowed into Wales to carry out a comparative study of healthcare around the UK amid fears over the quality of care Nearly 1,400 patients annually wait at least a year for an operation, figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show. In England, which is 17 times larger, only 574 people suffer the same delay.
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Long waiting lists means patients become too ill to be saved
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Many are spending life savings to get private treatment
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Nearly 1,400 patients annually wait at least a year for an operation
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In England - 17 times larger - only 574 people suffer the same delay.
'What I have been saying all along is that it's morally wrong for patients in @placeholder to wait such a lengthy time – in some cases it is the difference between life and death.