45708 (2025). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister of Health

45708 (2025). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister of Health: Are outpatient services provided at Whakatāne Hospital currently meeting the Government target of seeing new patients within four months of referral?

Hon Simeon Brown: I am advised that there is a single waitlist for first specialist appointments across Bay of Plenty and this is not split out by hospital. I am advised that in Bay of Plenty, over 1,000 fewer people are waiting for a first specialist assessment since November 2023. This follows the previous three-year period, where the first specialist assessment waitlist in the Bay of Plenty grew by 120 per cent, leaving over 7,400 extra patients waiting.