Thousands of patients promised elective surgery are waiting longer than the Government-ordered maximum of six months - which next year will shrink to five, then four months.
Waikato District Health Board was the worst performer nationally in the latest statistics published by the Health Ministry, which are for January. Counties Manukau DHB, an acknowledged leader in elective surgery, was the top performer.
Although the goal is zero patients waiting too long, the ministry also sets slightly more lenient "thresholds".
Waikato breached the thresholds in several departments: in excess of 4 per cent of patients who were promised surgery waited more than six months for treatment in plastic surgery (118 patients), gynaecology (89), general surgery (235) and ear, nose and throat (72). The largest non-compliance, by number and proportionally, was for a first specialist assessment in orthopaedics - 337 patients or 8.4 per cent. The threshold for these assessments is that no more than 1.5 per cent wait for over six months.
Nationally around 106,000 patients a year received elective surgery from 2001 to mid-decade, but the number has risen significantly each year since, to 145,400 in the 12 months to last June, as the Government has tried to catch up with population growth.
