While Otago District Health Board has improved or maintained its performance in meeting the Government's six health targets, its ratings against other boards have slipped in two areas.
One is the target which requires 80% of patients who visit an emergency department to have been admitted, transferred or discharged within six hours of their arrival.
It is an issue the board has been trying to address for some time and the latest national figures for the three months to the end of December last year show the board's performance has lifted from 70% to 73% in this area.
Other boards had also improved, however, meaning that Otago's ranking against the 20 others dropped from 17th to 19th.
The other area where the board's rankings fell, from 11th to 17th, and despite a 4% increase in performance to 19%, was in the target to have 80% of hospital patients who are smokers provided with advice and help to quit.
It is likely the next quarterly report will show a considerable gain in meeting this target as the work begun last year to address the issue takes hold.
Only one board, Wairarapa, has met this target.
The board maintained its top ranking, with 11 other boards, in the cancer waiting times target, with all patients needing radiation treatment having this within six weeks of their first specialist appointment.
The number of boards which did not meet this target rose from three in the previous quarter to nine.
Another Otago success was in vaccination rates, where it again exceeded the national target of having 85% of 2-year-olds with completed vaccinations.
Otago is placed third nationally for this target, compared with ninth last time, and the vaccination rate is 89%.
No comparison between the quarters can be made on the increased elective surgery target because computer problems prevented accurate data being recorded in the first quarter.
The board almost met the target in this area for the latest quarter and board chief operating officer Vivian Blake said she was confident the next results would reveal improved access to elective surgery.
Mrs Blake praised the work of staff to improve performance in all areas.
"We have a highly skilled and dedicated team, who continue to deliver great results in a challenging environment," she said in a statement.
The performances of all the boards against the targets are being published in newspapers for a second time.
Health Minister Tony Ryall believes publishing the information exposes the boards to public scrutiny, which helps improve performance and accountability.
