Lack of theatre time means Dunedin Hospital is having difficulty arranging acute surgery and some people may be waiting up to five days.
Hospital emergency medicine and surgery group manager Dr Colleen Coop said the load on the acute theatre had increased significantly following the relocation of Caesarean sections after hours.
Before December, such operations were carried out in the Queen Mary maternity section theatre, but changes to the way anaesthetic registrars needed to be supervised required after-hours Caesarean sections to be moved to main operating theatres.
This meant emergency Caesareans were taking up theatre time previously used for other acute surgery, she said.
The hospital did not record how much longer than the recommended operating times people were waiting, but in some cases it could be three to five days, she said.
Acute procedures ranged from life-threatening life and limb surgery after an accident, to cellulitis.
The group was looking at how theatre operating times could be extended.
In a report to last week's Southern District Health Board hospitals' advisory committee, the group suggested reactivation of theatre nine, but the cost was prohibitive.
Dr Coop said it would cost up to $2 million for the upgrade of theatre systems and equipment required.
The hospital has eight main theatres, two for day surgery and one for maternity cases.
Theatre nine was set up and used as a plaster room next to the main orthopaedic theatre, and was converted to a small acute theatre in 1992.
However, it did not meet the minimum standards for operating rooms and for the past 18 years was used as a storage area for theatre equipment.
The report also noted that safe staffing requirements in main operating theatres where both acute surgery and Caesareans were being carried out might require an increase in nursing staff.
