UPDATED: 8.18AM  The government's attempting to disprove claims people are waiting longer for elective surgery.

New research concludes the average wait time for an operation has increased by 80 days to around 300.

The survey commissioned by health insurers and private hospitals found 170,000 people needing surgery aren't even making it onto surgical waiting lists.

However, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman told Mike Hosking these numbers are wrong.

LISTEN ABOVE: Jonathon Coleman talks to Mike Hosking

"I don't know where they're getting that from but we've got 2000 people now waiting over four months and literally about 100 waiting over six months."

SEE ALSO: Almost 300,000 NZers waiting on elective surgery

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists said hospitals need more funding if they're going to meet the country's surgical needs.

Association executive director Ian Powell said denying health care causes undue pain and suffering for patients, but there's an even bigger cost.

"Their conditions deteriorate further. Their need becomes more and more clinically urgent and they will come eventually into the health system but their condition will be more complex to deal that will make it more expensive to deal with."

Jonathan Coleman said the government is providing what people really need.

"They've gone out an surveyed people and said: 'look, do you feel that you need an operation' I mean there's all sorts of people wanting operations for all sorts of things that it's not feasible for the State to provide."

Powell said the Government needs to own up to the problem and increase funding, because wait times are getting worse.

"A greater part of a population increasingly is in the older age group of New Zealanders rather than the younger and they're the ones that tend to require these operations more then younger people, as a generalisation."