Figures released by Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) showed only 54% of Southern patients waited less than four months for elective treatment, the worst-performing health region in the country.
- Have you been affected by excessive surgery wait times? Email reporters@odt.co.nz
The region does not fare much better when it comes to the wait times for a specialist appointment, with only 56% waiting less than four months — making it the third-worst region.
Several people have contributed their stories of waiting to the Otago Daily Times.
Tash Olliver’s 5-year-old son waited 10 and a-half months for elective dental surgery.
"My son was in agony for over eight months — if you have ever had teeth pain as an adult you could imagine what a 5-year-old was experiencing — when I finally lost my patience and put in a formal complaint.
"The surgery finally happened 10 months after we first had the problem.
"All areas are lacking staff, the wait times are not acceptable and you’re forever lost in a broken system.
"The doctors and nurses do their best, but there just isn’t enough of them."
Ken Sim initially presented with an urology issue to his GP in April 2022, but it was not deemed "serious" enough to go on the waiting list.
The problem flared up again two years later.
He was placed on the waiting list for a specialist which took another seven months.
"They won’t put people on the waiting list because the waiting list is too long.
"It’s basically just an invisible waiting list."
His treatment was excellent, and he was expecting surgery next month.
It was the waiting times that proved such a hassle.
"My advice would be to just keep nagging at your GP and just keep getting to make more contact with the department just to try to get on the waiting list.
"I get a bit cynical about it. I think most people do."
New Zealand Nurses Organisation Anne Daniels said she had heard stories of nurses working shifts outside of their usual rosters in order to push things through.
Overseas professionals no longer saw New Zealand as an ideal place to work, which exacerbated the problems.
"The reason for that, of course, is 1, conditions of work, the workloads are too high and unsafe, and 2, the wages do not reflect the value of the work that is actually being done by the doctors and nurses within the health system."
The new Dunedin hospital outpatient building is due to open late next year.
Asked whether this would help Southern better meet its targets, Ms Daniels said "well, that’s bricks and mortar".
"And in my very long history of being a nurse, I have never known bricks and mortar to provide care to a patient.
"Yes, we do need new premises, because the premises that we’re currently working in is not fit for purpose and basically is falling apart, as we all know."
HNZ group director of operations for Southern district Craig Ashton said several factors had impacted long wait lists across all districts including increased acute demand, the increasing number of patient referrals, workforce shortages and recent industrial action.
"Although our health target is focused on reducing wait times so patients are waiting less than 120 days, our immediate focus has been to address those waiting the longest.
"In July 2025, Southern had more than 80% of all the long-wait patients waiting over 600 days in the South Island.
"With the absolute commitment from all our hard-working team there are now zero patients waiting over 600 days that have not received or are booked to receive their treatment.
"We do however recognise that Southern has more work to do to reduce the time people spend waiting for surgery."
It had initiatives under way to achieve this, including:
• Additional clinics being scheduled for outpatient first specialist appointments and minor procedures.
• Outsourcing some surgery to private providers for suitable patients.
• Recruiting additional staff, with several new staff joining in the new year.
