The Minister of Health is trumpeting new elective surgery figures claiming they show the health system is in better shape.

Tony Ryall says they have more than exceeded the goal of increasing elective surgery rates with a record number conducted in the past year.

He says more than 2,000 more elective surgeries were done in the last quarter compared with 2008 and in total over 34,000 operations were performed. Mr Ryall says it far outstrips the previous average annual increase which was 1,400 extra surgeries a year