Wellington, Aug 20 NZPA - Elective surgery increased by a record of more than 12,000 patients in the past year, Health Minister Tony Ryall told Parliament today.

However, Labour is questioning whether easy procedures are getting a look in first, artificially boosting results.

Mr Ryall said 10,021 elective surgery procedures were done during the past eight years under the former Labour Government -- "well behind population growth".

Preliminary results for the 2008-09 year showed a steep improvement.

"The preliminary results show the number of people getting elective surgery in 2009-09 was 130,216 patients, a record increase of 12,265 patients," he said.

"This is the largest increase in the history of the public health system, and higher in one year than under eight years of Labour and doubling the budget."

Labour's Ruth Dyson questioned the figures.

"How can New Zealanders who are waiting for complex surgery have any faith in him when he has directed district health boards to improve discharge numbers, which can be achieved by doing lots of minor surgery rather than improving case weighted numbers which gives a true picture of the amount and type of surgery being carried out?"

Mr Ryall said the Government had nearly met its four-year goal for increased elective surgery in one year.

Increases were across most specialities including orthopaedics, ear nose and throat, plastics and ophthalmology, he said. The largest hike was in general surgery, with an increase of more than 29,000 operations, or about 11 percent.

NZPA PAR mt sl