Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand acting interim lead of hospital and specialist services for Southern Toni Gutschlag said eight of 36 planned surgeries yesterday had to be cancelled due to a lack of available beds.
Dunedin Hospital reached code red - the second-highest alert level for overloading - for a period yesterday, but the situation had improved by 2pm.
"Te Whatu Ora Southern apologises to any patient who has experienced deferrals in planned care.
"We know this can be distressing and frustrating and we sympathise with these patients," Ms Gutschlag said.
The deferred surgeries included one ear, nose and throat surgery, four general surgeries, two orthopaedic surgeries and one gynaecological surgery.
"While any deferment of planned care is deeply regrettable, any decision to do this is made with patient safety considerations at the forefront of all decision-making,"
A Dunedin man told the Otago Daily Times he was being seen by a nurse when a hospital manager told him his elective surgery had been cancelled.
He did not blame hospital staff, but the delay was frustrating because his daughter had flown to Dunedin from out of town to help him after the surgery.
Apologetic staff could not tell him when his surgery would be rescheduled.
"I’m in limbo at the moment."
