Southland and Otago have some of the longest waiting lists for planned care in the country.

There were 656 Southern patients who waited longer than 12 months for a procedure, from the time they were ready for treatment, according to Te Whatu Ora’s clinical performance metrics for the first quarter of 2023/24, released on Tuesday.

That number is down from 727 for the same period last year, from July to September. But the Southern district has the second-longest waiting list behind Canterbury, where 955 patients have been waiting longer than 12 months.

All other districts report between one and 357 patients waiting longer than 365 days for planned care.

Te Whatu Ora’s interim chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan said the quarterly report showed that the health system continued to face challenges.

Specialist appointments, planned care and emergency departments were particular pressure points throughout the country.

Demand for health services was being driven by population growth, the age of the population and an increasing number of people with chronic and complex conditions like heart disease and diabetes, Sullivan said.

“Our challenge is both to reduce demand on hospitals where we can, such as through investments in prevention and the good work of primary and community care, and to meet the underlying growth in demand as best we can,” he said.

Sullivan praised the “incredible” health workforce who, despite challenges, delivered 20,000 or 6.4% more surgeries than the year before, nationally.

“Our immediate focus is on urgent patients and those who have been waiting for treatment the longest … everyone waiting more than three years for treatment has now been treated or has a treatment plan.”

Reducing wait times for first specialist appointments would be a key priority in the coming months, Sullivan said, “though change will take some time and in the short term the number may further rise”.