Chief operating officer Vivian Blake said yesterday the amount of surgery at Dunedin Hospital last month was about 4% less than what was planned.
Some of this was due to a reduction in nursing staff. There had been much sick leave and there were also some vacancies in theatre, she said.
Staff were also being " juggled" across different areas due to the swine flu virus.
Regional chief nursing and midwifery officer Leanne Samuel said the amount of illness was greater than would be expected with normal seasonal flu.
However, there was some fluctuation. Some days it was "business as usual" and other days the levels were higher.
Mrs Blake said the board had been able to assist with West Coast intensive care unit patients, who would normally be handled by the Canterbury District Health Board.
Committee member Susie Johnstone asked whether what was being seen was increased awareness of swine flu or increased prevalence.
Ms Samuel said the sampling being done at representative general practices showed an increase in people presenting with flu-like illnesses.
Escalation or de-escalation of services to deal with patients with flu-like illness would be undertaken as required.
Chairman Richard Thomson said it appeared the situation could be much worse and still had that potential, but the board was managing it.
• Yesterday, the Ministry of Health said its weekly monitoring might indicate a levelling in the number of people going to the GP with flu symptoms. Its weekly update showed 2704 confirmed cases of the illness in New Zealand, but since few people are tested the real figure would be much higher.
