There has been a public apology from Southern District Health Board, to patients who have waited too long for treatment.

The apology has been published in the Otago Daily Times, after a string of reports blaming poor funding and out of date hospital facilities.

Chief executive Chris Fleming has this week acknowledged problems, and said they are being worked on.

But he admitted the DHB has failed to address significant issues over the years, and faces huge challenges to get back on track.

"Over years, this organisation has failed to take actions to address many significant issues and we now find ourselves in the position of having huge challenges," he said.

Surgical waiting times were variable between the former Otago and Southland DHB catchments and steps needed to be taken to address that.

The DHB was limited by the availability of theatre space and surgeons had also not necessarily been provided with adequate theatre time.

"This goes back over many years and I am at a loss to understand how this practice has been allowed to occur," Mr Fleming said.

There was no evidence to support the suggestion that patients are dying because their cardiac surgery was delayed by constraint in intensive care unit beds, he said.

However, delays for elective surgery had resulted in some patients needing to be treated acutely, which was unacceptable, he said.

The DHB was spending millions on a new high-dependency/intensive care unit, which would increase capacity.

It was also carrying out a review of its urology service.

"Processes and practices across the service are variable, and there is concern as to whether we have invested adequately in the service in recent years," Mr Fleming said.