10 September 2021
Matthew Hooton
By emails:
[FYI request #16398 email]
[email address]
Ref: OIA-2021/22-0115
OIA-2021/22-0128
Dear Matthew Hooton
Official Information Act request relating to Intensive Care Unit beds
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request received on 13 August 2021. You
requested:
“ information held by DPMC on how many ICU beds there were in New Zealand on 1 January
2020, how many there were on 1 July 2021, how many there were on 1 August 2021, and
what steps DPMC took to help achieve the assumed improvement in these numbers to make
New Zealand able to cater for more people requiring ICU care. ”
On 14 August 2021, you clarified this request noting:
Please note that by "beds" I mean this term in two senses, namely:
1) the actual bed and the supporting equipment to provide ICU care; and
2) the number of "beds" being used or immediately available for use in New Zealand by people
needing ICU services, taking into account available staffing.
On 18 August 2021, you also requested:
“Please provide information held by DPMC on how many people the New Zealand health
system (public and private) was capable of providing ICU care for at or around 6pm on
Tuesday 17 August 2021, and how many patients were being provided with such care (public
and private) at that time.”
You followed up your request on the same day with:
“Also as part of this request, please provide all advice provided on Tuesday 17 August
to the Government about ICU care.”
On 19 August 2021, we responded to your request of 18 August 2021, advising you that the
information requested is more closely connected to the functions of the Ministry of Health, and we
would have transferred, however, we understood you had made the same or a similar request to the
Ministry already.
Executive Wing, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand 6011
4431277
64 4 817 9700 Facsimile 64 4 472 3181 www.dpmc.govt.nz
On 19 August 2021 you responded:
“Thank you for your letter. I have made a similar request to the Ministry of Health. However,
DPMC is the lead advisor to the Prime Minister and Cabinet and playing a lead role in New
Zealand's Covid response, and I am interested in what information DPMC holds and what
advice it gave. Not all the information covered by my request will be held by the Ministry of
Health which is why I have made this request to DPMC as well.”
I note that we have combined these requests into a single request, given their common themes. I
have decided under section 15A of the Act to extend the time limits for deciding on your request by
an additional 20 working days. Consequently, the extended due date for your response will be
8 October 2021.
The extension is required because of the consultations needed to make a decision on your request,
with staff who have limited availability due to their ongoing work responding to the current COVID-19
outbreak. Despite the extension, a response will be sent to you as soon as possible.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision under section 28(3)
of the Act.
Yours sincerely
Sarah Corbett
Manager, Ministerial and Business Services
3249891
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