Nearly 800 surgeries were cancelled and postponed to a later date across several Auckland and Hamilton hospitals, in the three months leading to the end of September this year, due to factors including bed shortages and lack of operating theatre capacity.

Health New Zealand data obtained by RNZ showed that there were 320 postponed surgeries at Auckland City Hospital, 363 at Middlemore Hospital, and 106 in Waikato Hospital, between June 24 and September 24 this year.

For Middlemore Hospital, the number of postponed surgeries has increased by 30 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

The data includes 34 instances where people have travelled to Auckland City Hospital for surgery from another region, and had their surgery cancelled and postponed last minute, between June 24 and September 24, 2024.

Eleven people who travelled to Waikato hospital for surgery in that period had their surgeries cancelled and postponed last minute, for the same period.

Three people who travelled to Middlemore Hospital, from Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty respectively, also had last minute cancellations.

Some of the top reasons for last minute surgery cancellations include the lack of beds, an overrun surgical list - cases where an earlier surgery has taken longer than expected, elective surgeries cancelled to make place for more acute cases, and unplanned staff leave.

Health NZ Commissioner Lester Levy has been approached for comment.

Meanwhile, last week, the public sector union said nearly 1500 more jobs may be cut at HNZ, on top of the more than 500 voluntary redundancies already accepted.

They would include 358 jobs in the National Public Health Service and 1120 jobs in the Data and Digital group.

In addition, about 40 hospital support workers at Auckland Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre have been told their jobs could be gone next year.

On Tuesday, HNZ reported a deficit of over $700 million, and that it will extend its cost cutting to mid-2027.

-RNZ