South Auckland's elective surgery backlog continues to skyrocket

The number of people in Counties Manukau waiting more than four months for non-acute surgery has grown by over 250-percent in the past year.

Local Democracy reports Health NZ figures show there were 1184 people affected at the end of June, up from 337 at the same time last year.

National Party Health spokesperson Shane Reti says of those on list, 109 of them have been waiting more than 12 months for surgery.

He believes Health Minister Andrew Little has failed at his core responsibility of ensuring New Zealanders get timely access to health services