Waiting times NZ
The share waiting less than four months for elective treatment was 72.6% (Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, Jun 2026 qtr).
Updated
Results for the five government health targets in the April–June quarter of each year for the last decade: faster cancer treatment, childhood immunisation, emergency department stays under six hours, first specialist assessment within four months, and elective treatment within four months.
How long New Zealanders wait for common planned operations, hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery, from specialist assessment to treatment, as reported to the OECD: the median wait in days and the share waiting more than three months. Annual from 2003.
One quarter per year (April–June), so seasonal effects are held constant but within-year changes are not shown. Childhood immunisation figures changed source in 2021/22 (National Immunisation Register to the Aotearoa Immunisation Register), which counts more eligible children; the drop partly reflects that.
A percentage meeting a health target describes the group covered by that target. Its definition tells you which patients are counted and when their waiting clock starts and ends.
Read the period beside each number before comparing it with another figure. A monthly observation, a quarterly result and a financial year cover different spans of time. The latest release can also revise earlier observations. The chart and downloads keep the published periods so you can check which figures are being compared. A change in waiting times describes what happened during that period; it does not by itself explain why it happened or identify the effect of a government policy. Definitions and coverage matter as much as the size of a change.
Sources: Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora; OECD. Last retrieved 10 October 2026.