Medical authorities and their officials are proud to announce that they have succeeded in lessening the waiting hours of the hospital patients for the elective surgery procedures or first specialist assessments.

It was a set target of the experts to bring down the waiting hours within six months and it seems that they have almost succeeded because no hospital patients (according to recent reports) in Marlborough and Nelson had to wait more than six months to have their elective surgeries or first specialist assessments.

Statements from Wairau Hospital service manager Ms. Becky Olsen proudly mentioned about the results as a "remarkable improvement", clearing that last year had 234 patients waiting more than six months for an operation till June end but this year, the figure is zero.

Hospital reports have confirmed that the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board has performed almost 6209 operations from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. The calculated figures are higher than their set targets by 180 more number of cases.

"Our elective teams did a terrific job to surpass our elective target, while at the same time ensuring no-one was waiting longer than six months for their planned procedure or their specialist assessment", Ms Olsen said.

She has praised the efforts of the team and their hard work to stand upon their commitment to achieve the goals.