Changes have been brought in by the Ministry of Health to the credentialling process for surgeons who perform incontinence procedures involving surgical mesh.
SDHB chief medical officer Nigel Millar said there were various steps to the process and it was important the SDHB went through them correctly.
The SDHB wanted to apologise to the patients whose surgery was postponed at short notice, he said.
''[We] recognise the inconvenience and distress this will have caused.
''All of these surgeries will be rescheduled as soon as possible.''
The credentialling processes were specific to one procedure, and other operations would not be affected.
The situation was expected to be resolved within a few weeks, and Dr Millar said the SDHB would reschedule the postponed surgeries then.
''Our surgeons are highly qualified and experienced, and we expect reviewing their credentials for using surgical mesh against these standards to be straightforward.''
New Zealand specific standards are being developed for surgeons, but the Ministry of Health has requested all district health boards credential surgeons against standards developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care in the interim.
