A spike in the number of people being turned away from surgery, has led to calls for more health funding.

New figures show that between July and September last year over 7,000 people were turned down for surgery, a rise of nearly 2,000 people, due to DHBs not having the resources to treat everyone.

Labour's health spokesperson Annette King said the true number will be higher, as it only counts people who were actually sent for a specialist appointment.

She said some GPs are deciding its pointless to even send people for specialist help in the first place, and they're not included in the data.

Ms King said DHBs need more funding, and there needs to be a change in the upcoming Budget.

"If [the Government] doesn't cover cost pressures at least, we will see even more pressure in this next financial year."