17 August 2023
Chris McCashin
[FYI request #23524 email]
Tēnā koe Chris,
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00025912
Thank you for your email on 2 August 2023, asking for the following under the Of icial Information
Act 1982 (the Act):
Please provide the deaths in excel format for the above codes to include
I49.9, R96.0 and R99
1990-2022
Numbers Per Month
Ages 0-9, 10-19, 20-29 etc
Please find the excel sheet in
Appendix 1 with notes about this data below.
2018 is the latest year for which cause of death data is available. After the close of a calendar
year, there is a 12-18 month process to assign cause of death codes to the majority of deaths in
that year. Te Whatu Ora’s clinical coding team reviews the death certificate and health history of
the deceased, to assign cause of death codes. Approximately 10% of deaths are referred to the
Coroner each year to determine cause. Deaths which require a coronial inquiry can take 2-3 or
more years for cause of death to be assigned. We do not make mortality data available publicly
until the majority of deaths have been assigned a cause of death, so that the data we release is
complete and accurate. The Chief Coroner has noted delays in the time it is taking them to assign
cause of death codes.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Te Whatu Ora may
proactively release a copy of this response on our website. Al requester data, including your name
and contact details, wil be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Gaynor Bradfield
Manager
Office of the Chief Data and Digital
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz