The largest
ever annual increase in the number of people receiving elective surgery has been confirmed by the Health Minister Tony Ryall, in the 2008/09 year just passed.

"We have seen an increase of 11,805 patients receiving elective procedures. The largest increase came in the six months from January to June, and for the first time the number of discharges in the second half of the year has exceeded the number in the first half," Mr Ryall said.

"This record increase comes off the back of an average 1,436 extra operations per year in the period from 2000/1 to 2007/08.

"The new Government aimed to deliver an average extra 4,000 discharges a year over the first three years. Our goal was to reach around 130, 000 discharges per year by the end of the 2010/2011 financial year. But we have hit that already and delivered eight times the average annual increase under Labour."

Additionally, the average caseweight, which measures the complexity of procedures, has remained unchanged from the previous year.

"This result means thousands of extra patients have received elective surgery than in previous years, and in part shows what can be achieved with a consistent and clear focus," concluded Tony Ryall.

There are a number of pressures on future elective surgery delivery including the impact of swine flu.