The waiting list for elective surgeries has skyrocketed in the last year, with many experts pointing towards ongoing workforce shortages as the cause.

Thousands of people on the waiting list are in intense, ongoing pain, requiring essential operations such as hip or knee replacements.

For Casper's weekly catchup with the National party’s Dr. Shane Reti, they discussed the causes of the growing waiting list and the National party’s proposed solutions to the problem.