Dear Health New Zealand,

I am making a request under the Official Information Act 1982 regarding governance, accountability, and transparency in Health New Zealand’s decision-making. Given that the central government has stated it is not responsible for the day-to-day operations of Health New Zealand, I seek clarification on how the organisation ensures effective oversight, public accountability, and evidence-based decision-making.

1. Governance and Decision-Making
1.1 Health New Zealand’s Responsibilities
Please provide a detailed breakdown of Health New Zealand’s key statutory and operational responsibilities in relation to:
- Public hospital administration and service planning
- Workforce planning, allocation, and management
- Digital health systems, IT infrastructure, and data management
- Clinical service standards, patient safety, and risk management
- Primary care oversight, funding decisions, and contract management
- Public accountability, transparency, and complaint resolution processes
- Any other responsibilities under Health NZ is given under the law

1.2 Decision-Making & Oversight
- Please provide an organisational chart showing key executive positions, their reporting lines, and where ultimate responsibility for hospital operations lies.
- How does Health New Zealand ensure that intelligence provided to its leadership accurately reflects conditions on the ground?
- What mechanisms exist to prevent decision-making from being based on incomplete, misleading, or filtered information?
- Are there independent auditing or verification processes in place to assess whether decisions align with frontline healthcare realities?

2. Executive Responsibility & Public Contact Information
For each area of responsibility listed in Section 1.1, please provide:
- The name and official title of the executive responsible.
- A description of their role and specific duties in that area.
- Their reporting structure, including who they are accountable to.
- Publicly available contact details (email and/or phone) for public queries or concerns.

Additionally, what formal escalation pathways exist for the public or frontline healthcare workers to raise concerns if they believe key issues are being misrepresented to Health New Zealand leadership?

3. Public Complaints Handling & Transparency Measures
- What public-facing mechanisms exist for patients, staff, and the general public to raise concerns about governance or service delivery?
- What formal procedures are in place to ensure complaints and concerns are addressed in a transparent and timely manner?
- What quality assurance measures exist to track whether complaints lead to meaningful policy or operational changes?
- Please provide any published reports or summaries regarding public complaints received in the past 12 months and any resulting policy or service changes.

4. Information Integrity & Verification
The central government has stated that it is not responsible for the day-to-day operations of Health New Zealand.
- How does Health New Zealand ensure that the information used in decision-making accurately represents conditions on the ground?
- What systems exist to verify the authenticity and completeness of information provided to executives and board members?
- Are there any internal audits, reviews, or third-party assessments conducted to ensure information provided to leadership is accurate and reflective of real-world healthcare challenges?

5. Ministerial Oversight and Government Accountability
- Under what circumstances can the Minister of Health or other government officials intervene in Health New Zealand’s operations?
- Have there been any ministerial directives, reviews, or interventions in the past 12 months regarding hospital service delivery or governance? If so, please provide details.
- What legal or procedural safeguards are in place to ensure Health New Zealand remains transparent and publicly accountable while operating independently of direct government control?

// Scope of Request
I am requesting this information at a national level.

However, if retrieving national-level information exceeds the scope of this request under Section 18(f) of the Official Information Act (on the grounds that the information cannot be made available without substantial collation or research), please limit the request to the following hospitals:
- Auckland City Hospital
- North Shore Hospital
- Middlemore Hospital
- Whangārei Hospital

If this scope is still considered too broad under Section 18(f), please further limit the request to:
- Auckland City Hospital
- North Shore Hospital
- Middlemore Hospital

If necessary, further limit the request to the following two hospitals:
- Auckland City Hospital
- North Shore Hospital

Finally, if this remains too broad, please limit the request to only Auckland City Hospital.

If any part of this request is refused, I request suggestions on how the request may be refined to fall within an acceptable scope.

I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Jake Parsons