Sixty local residents have been waiting more than 12 months for elective surgery at Bowral Hospital, according to the NSW Health Department's most recent hospital waiting list figures.
The figures reveal in July this year, 476 patients were on Bowral Hospital's waiting list, an increase of 87 patients since July 2003.
Of the 476 people currently on the waiting list, 60 of those patients have been waiting for more than a year for surgery, an increase of 43 patients since the same time last year.
The increase comes despite the fact Bowral Hospital has received $138,000 in recent months to combat the spiralling waiting list.
The recent figures have concerned Southern Highlands MP Peta Seaton, who feels local patients have to wait too long for life-improving surgery.
"People with chronic health problems and emergency patients are often waiting excessive times for treatment," she said.
"Orthopaedic patients can expect to wait up to two years for an operation, and despite the Minister's provision of enhancement funding in an attempt to reduce this time, the money barely touched the sides.
Full story in Friday's Southern Highland News.
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