26 February 2025
Michael Drury
[FYI request #29346 email]
Tēnā koe Michael
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00073433
Thank you for your email on 27 November 2024, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
for the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
In particular, I request the following information regarding the procurement and
distribution of laptops to staff across New Zealand:
1. Total Number of Laptops Purchased:
The total number of laptops purchased by Health NZ, including all associated
hardware and accessories (e.g., docking stations, additional software, etc.), over the
last 12 months or financial year.
2. Total Cost of Laptops and Associated Hardware/Software:
The total cost of these laptops and associated hardware/software, including any
government subsidies or grants related to the purchases.
3. Rationale for Replacing Existing Devices:
The rationale and justification for the decision to replace existing devices, particularly
for employees who already had fully functional laptops or devices, despite no clear
indication of system-wide deficiencies in the technology being replaced.
4. Procurement Process:
Details of the procurement process, including the companies involved, the selection
criteria used for suppliers, and whether the purchasing process adhered to public
sector procurement guidelines and best practices.
5. Potential Irregularities in Procurement:
Whether there have been any identified or suspected backhanders, kickbacks, or other
informal payments related to the procurement of these devices or other technology
spending. Transparency regarding this matter is crucial for maintaining public
confidence in Health NZ’s financial practices.
6. Plans for Future Technology Purchases:
If applicable, any future plans for further technology upgrades or purchases in the near
future, including any anticipated costs and timelines.
7. Hardware Lifecycle and Replacement Policy:
Clarification regarding the standard life cycle of hardware, including laptops, and the
general policy on replacing devices before the end of their expected life cycle. For
example, if laptops are typically replaced every 4 years, how many devices were
replaced before this period?
8. Disposition of Replaced Equipment:
What happened to the old equipment that was still in usable condition? Specifically,
were there any instances where equipment, such as Citrix terminals or other devices,
could have been redeployed or used elsewhere within the organisation? For example,
the replacement of 3000’s 5070 AiO devices—were these devices reused, or were
they unnecessarily discarded or removed by contractors when they could have been
repurposed?
Response
I apologise for the delay in providing our response. The time taken is not what we aspire to.
This is something we are working to get on top of as we deal with a high volume of requests
and the understandably high public interest in our work.
For clarity, I have addressed each part of your request in turn.
1. Total Number of Laptops Purchased:
The total number of laptops purchased by Health NZ, including all associated
hardware and accessories (e.g., docking stations, additional software, etc.), over the
last 12 months or financial year.
Currently, there is no item code set up for specific devices in the various purchasing systems
used by Health NZ. However, we can provide information on the number of devices purchased
through our National Digital Workspace Programme for the 2023/24 financial year. This
programme has established new national device builds and is working on consolidating users
into a national Health NZ domain, with the first tranche focusing on corporate and national
public health service users. Key items include:
Key Items
Number of Units
Value
Laptops (including warranty, various workstation grades)
8,614
14.66m
Desktops & thin clients
3,296
$4.43m
Tablets
631
$350k
Monitors
5,615
$1.37m
Docking stations
6,679
1.36m
Keyboards, headsets etc.
3,271
$150k
We believe this represents a significant proportion of the devices acquired, roughly estimated
to be about 80% of all devices purchased in the 2023/24 financial year. Other purchases
include new user setups and device failure replacements at the District level. Over time, our
device asset management systems will increasingly track all these new devices, although
these systems do not yet cover all devices.
2. Total Cost of Laptops and Associated Hardware/Software:
The total cost of these laptops and associated hardware/software, including any
government subsidies or grants related to the purchases.
The National Digital Workspace programme has spent an appropriate amount on devices,
peripherals, and associated equipment, considering the scale and deployment of devices
throughout the country. Please refer to our response to item 1 for reference to indicative value
of devices.
We do not track specific software purchased per device, as many of the licenses required are
subscription-based on users rather than devices. We are not aware of any subsidies or grants
related to purchases that Health NZ receives.
3. Rationale for Replacing Existing Devices:
The rationale and justification for the decision to replace existing devices, particularly
for employees who already had fully functional laptops or devices, despite no clear
indication of system-wide deficiencies in the technology being replaced.
Devices have been replaced under the following circumstances:
• The current device is broken or non-functional.
• The device is beyond the device age policy, which is generally over 5 years.
• The device is unable to run Windows 11.
• The device is no longer fit for purpose, meaning it cannot perform the tasks required by
the end user.
• The device was a leased device under the legacy Ministry of Health (MoH)
arrangements. All leases were ended, and devices were returned to MoH where
appropriate
.
4. Procurement Process:
Details of the procurement process, including the companies involved, the selection
criteria used for suppliers, and whether the purchasing process adhered to public
sector procurement guidelines and best practices.
All End User Compute hardware under the National Digital Workspace delivery portfolio has
been acquired through the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment All of
Government (MBIE AOG) Hardware Panel (IT Hardware Gen3). This is the standard
purchasing channel for all Health NZ owned devices.
It would be difficult to break down the source of our device purchases across the country. As
we have no specific item codes for aggregation of device acquisition we would need to review
individual invoices dispersed across multiple capital project entries in different District and ICT
cost centres.
We are currently assessing the procurement approach for End User Compute agency resale,
devices, and associated services. Information about value, manufacturer, and reseller is
commercially sensitive while this process is ongoing.
5. Potential Irregularities in Procurement:
Whether there have been any identified or suspected backhanders, kickbacks, or other
informal payments related to the procurement of these devices or other technology
spending. Transparency regarding this matter is crucial for maintaining public
confidence in Health NZ’s financial practices.
We have not identified any irregularities, backhanders, kickbacks, or other informal payments
related to the procurement of these devices or other technology spending. We would promptly
investigate them if any such issues come to our attention.
Health NZ has a protected disclosure (whistleblower) process. Any information submitted via
this avenue will be thoroughly investigated. If there are any specific concerns these can be
forwarded to
[email address] where they will be addressed by the team
independent of the technology/procurement teams in the first instance.
6. Plans for Future Technology Purchases:
If applicable, any future plans for further technology upgrades or purchases in the near
future, including any anticipated costs and timelines.
We are currently tendering to MBIE AoG Hardware Panel providers for the preferred supply of
End User Compute (EUC) devices, peripherals, and associated services. Our future plans for
technology upgrades and purchases are dependent on the successful conclusion of this
tender process.
At this stage, we do not have specific anticipated costs and timelines, as these will be
determined once the tender process is complete and suppliers are selected.
7. Hardware Lifecycle and Replacement Policy:
Clarification regarding the standard life cycle of hardware, including laptops, and the
general policy on replacing devices before the end of their expected life cycle. For
example, if laptops are typically replaced every 4 years, how many devices were
replaced before this period?
The national policy regarding hardware lifecycle and replacement is currently being
formalised. Generally, the focus is on the expected life of devices, which is as follows:
• 7-8 years for a desktop (shorter for the keyboard and mouse)
• 5 years for a general laptop used by a single user
• 3-5 years for a high-use laptop in a clinical space (i.e., shared device used 24x7 and
subject to regular sanitisation)
Currently, Health NZ is outside these guidelines, with many devices in use beyond this age.
When deploying the new desktop environment, the rules for device replacement have been:
• Laptops less than 4 years old are generally redeployed.
• Laptops older than 4 years are replaced, reflecting that they have only 1 year of life
left, and there is a cost to deployment.
• Any device that will not run Windows 11 is replaced, as the new desktop environment
is Windows 11.
• Any leased device is replaced, as Health NZ chooses to outright purchase devices
rather than lease.
8. Disposition of Replaced Equipment:
What happened to the old equipment that was still in usable condition? Specifically,
were there any instances where equipment, such as Citrix terminals or other devices,
could have been redeployed or used elsewhere within the organisation? For example,
the replacement of 3000’s 5070 AiO devices—were these devices reused, or were
they unnecessarily discarded or removed by contractors when they could have been
repurposed?
While we can't specifically comment on the replacement of individual devices, each
District/former District Health Board had differing disposal processes and policies that were
aligned with the NZ Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) policies set for the NZ
Government. As part of the National Digital Workspace programme, we are establishing a
standardised disposal approach for Health NZ. The services for disposal are considered as
part of our End User Compute (EUC) procurement.
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, Health NZ may
proactively release a copy of this response on our website. All requester data, including your
name and contact details, will be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Danielle Coe
Manager (OIA) Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
