That question was asked by board member Richard Thomson at last week's hospital advisory committee in Dunedin.
If a 155% higher-than-planned number of procedures to treat macular degeneration in the year to the end of May was excluded, surgical figures would not look as good.
General surgery discharges were 9% under plan, skin lesions 13% under plan, vascular surgery 22% under plan, and ear/nose/throat surgery 6% under plan.
All up, the board discharged 1% more elective patients in the year to the end of May than it had planned.
Mr Thomson stressed his comments were not a criticism of staff, but highlighted the problem of chasing narrow targets. The system potentially ''disguised'' the true figures in some areas.
''[Receiving treatment] should not be the lottery of which particular disease you've got. At the moment, it looks a little like that,'' he said.
Patient services director Lexie O'Shea, in response, said resource constraints within particular areas affected discharge numbers. Improving access to elective services is one of six health targets on which health boards are monitored by the Ministry of Health.
The committee heard the Dunedin Hospital emergency department's performance had slipped against the six-hour target to 89.5% in May.
This was due to several factors, including the long-term sick leave of a staff member. The previous month, the department handled 92.1% of patients within six hours.
