The quarterly league tables, released this week, show the Southern board slipped from fourth-worst in the first quarter of 2010-11, to second-worst in the April-June quarter, beating only Capital and Coast DHB.
Southern DHB treated or transferred 83% of patients in its emergency departments within six hours - up from 77% in the first quarter.
In other targets, it was 16th of 20 DHBs for improving access to elective surgery, first-equal with 19 DHBs for shorter waits for radiation treatment, third-best for meeting immunisation targets, 17th for helping smokers quit, and eighth for improving diabetes and cardiovascular services.
In a press release, Southern chief executive Brian Rousseau said while the emergency department target "remained a challenge", the DHB had improved in percentage terms over the year.
"We have a long way to go, but with initiatives such as the development of an ED observation unit, internal quality improvement projects, and continued support from our fantastic staff, we expect to see these results improve in the 2011-12 year."
The DHB had performed well in many areas, such as immunisation, access to elective surgery, and shorter waits for radiation treatment.
"Our staff have continued to work extremely hard to provide the best health care for our community and we wish to thank them for their efforts.
" We would also like to thank the wider health sector who have played an important role in helping us achieve strong results."
Health Minister Tony Ryall, also in a press release, said New Zealand DHBs delivered 26,000 more elective surgery discharges in 2010-11 than three years ago.
"Five-hundred extra patients a week are now getting elective surgery. That means more people are getting the operations they need," Mr Ryall said.
