Waitlisted Deaths
Brian Thompson made this Official Information request to Health New Zealand
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From: Brian Thompson
Dear Health New Zealand,
How many people have died while waiting for treatment in the last five years? How many were on surgical waitlists, waiting for cancer treatment, or stuck in ED waiting for a bed that never became available? How many emergency calls were downgraded, delayed, or outright ignored due to ‘capacity issues’?
We constantly hear about the ‘stretched system’ and ‘record demand’, yet there’s never any transparency about how many New Zealanders have actually lost their lives because of these failures. How many preventable deaths have been recorded due to understaffing, bed shortages, or delayed procedures? I also want to see any internal memos or reports Health New Zealand has on this, because I suspect there are a lot of numbers that never make it to the public.
Yours faithfully,
Brian Thompson
From: hnzOIA
Tēnā koe,
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From: hnzOIA
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Kia ora Brian,
Thank you for your request for information on 8 February 2025. Please find
attached our response to your request.
If you have any questions, please get in touch at
[1][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 [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi,
Morgan
Senior Advisor (OIA) Government Services
Office of the Chief Executive
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
delete this message
References
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1. mailto:[Health New Zealand request email]
2. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
From: Brian Thompson
Morgan,
Frankly, I'm baffled that such a clearly defined request is being dismissed as too broad when it specifically targets all preventable deaths in Auckland hospitals over the past five years. I'm not asking for endless mountains of data - I’m simply asking for the hard facts that our public healthcare system should have on record. Back in my day, transparency wasn’t some lofty ideal; it was just expected.
So, tell me exactly what part of my request you find too broad. Give me clear, specific guidance on how I can narrow it down to meet your requirements. I expect straightforward answers without the usual bureaucratic waffle. Families and taxpayers deserve real transparency on the failures that have led to preventable deaths, and it's high time we got to the bottom of this.
Yours sincerely,
Brian Thompson
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