Figures published in England and Wales today lay bare the widening gulf in NHS waiting times performance between the two nations.
At the end of April 2015, one in seven patients on Welsh NHS waiting lists (some 15.1% of patients) had been waiting for longer than 26 weeks to begin treatment and more than one in three of those (5.3% of patients) had waited for 36 weeks or more.
In England, just 6.6% of patients waited for longer than the shorter waiting time target of just 18 weeks.
In the past two years the number of patients waiting more than 36 weeks to begin treatment in the Welsh NHS has trebled to 22,753.
One in seven of the Welsh population is now stuck on an NHS list waiting to begin treatment.
In April 2015, the number of patients waiting more than eight weeks to access diagnostic services rose to 18.6%. In the same month in England, just 2% of patients were waiting more than six weeks.
Darren Millar AM, Shadow Minister for Health, said, “These are deeply shameful figures for Carwyn Jones and his Welsh Labour Government.
"It is wrong that patients in Wales should be enduring far longer waiting times than patients in other parts of the UK and it's very concerning that the problem seems to be getting much worse.
“These figures provide yet more evidence that in spite of the hard work of dedicated NHS staff, Welsh Labour's record-breaking cuts to the health budget are biting hard and patients are paying the price.
“Waits for treatment and diagnostic tests can be very worrying for patients and their loved ones and can sometimes lead to worse patient outcomes or harm.
"Welsh waiting times are now out of control and Labour Ministers must properly resource the health service and get to grips with this issue."