KEY POINTS:
Heart patients in Wellington face the longest wait for surgery in the country - more than twice as long as Auckland, a Health Ministry report says.
The average Wellington heart patient waited 108 days for surgery -- almost twice the national average of 58 days, according to a ministry draft report for the 2007/2008 financial year.
Other waiting times were Auckland 43 days, Waikato 52, Otago 59, and Canterbury 87.
Capital and Coast Health Board last week announced it had moved to cut waiting times by sending patients to Australia for surgery.
The report also showed that New Zealand came bottom in a survey of seven countries' access to heart surgery.
- NZPA
