Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): The Ministry of Health's latest reporting for the week ending 20 February 2022 estimates that approximately 7,219 in-patient elective procedures were deferred nationally due to COVID-19 since August 2021. As the member will be aware from my answer to his written question, these are estimates subject to revision by DHBs. Results for December 2021 show that there are 32,896 patients waiting longer than four months for a first specialist appointment. This compares to 19,765 in September 2021. 