Te Whatu Ora's clinical director says worsening performance data in the health sector can still be attributed to flow-on effects from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number of patients waiting more than four months for specialist care jumped 46 percent in the last year, while the number of preschoolers admitted to hospital with preventable conditions increased by 35 percent across the motu.
But Dr Richard Sullivan says there has been an increase in planned care, with an immediate focus on acute patients and those who have been waiting the longest for treatment.
Sullivan spoke to Corin Dann.