12 February 2025
Brian Thompson
[FYI request #30010 email]
Tēnā koe Brian
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00078651
Thank you for your email on 8 February 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for the
following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“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.
How much taxpayer money has been burned on consultants, PR firms, and
‘communications specialists’ while hospitals are falling apart at the seams? How much has
gone into meaningless rebranding, corporate jargon, and ‘strategic reports’ instead of fixing
the actual problems—like patients waiting 12 hours in ED and staff quitting in droves?
I want a full breakdown of every single cent that has been funneled into these wasteful
contracts. How many consultants have been paid ridiculous fees to produce reports that
just gather dust? How many so-called ‘communications experts’ are on the payroll instead
of hiring more doctors and nurses? How much has been spent on branding, marketing, and
glossy brochures that no one asked for? And let’s not forget the endless website redesigns
and ‘engagement initiatives’ that do nothing except drain public money while patients sit on
waiting lists for months.
While nurses and doctors are being told to do more with less, Health NZ seems to have an
endless slush fund for consultants and corporate spin. Frontline workers are burnt out,
patients are suffering, and yet there’s always cash for PR fluff.
Why are patients being charged for parking at emergency departments across all Auckland
hospitals? Public healthcare shouldn’t be a cash grab. Provide full details on which
hospitals charge, how much, and any exemptions.
How much is Wilson Parking being paid to run these car parks? Does Health New Zealand
get a commission or cut from the fees? Who decided Wilson Parking should control parking
at public hospitals, and was the public ever consulted? Why is a private company profiting
off a taxpayer-funded health service?
Why are hospital staff being forced to pay for parking at their own workplace? Doctors,
nurses, and other healthcare workers already work long hours under high stress—why are
they being financially penalized just for turning up to do their jobs? How much revenue is
made from staff parking fees, and where does that money go?
I expect straight answers, none of this bureaucratic waffle. Don’t try and spin it, just give me
the facts.”
Response
Your request for all information is very broad, and substantial manual collation would be required to
locate and prepare all documents within scope of your request. As such, I refuse your request
under section 18(f) of the Act.
I have considered whether fixing a charge for the supply of the information or extending the
timeframe for response would enable Health NZ to respond. I do not consider that either option
would remove the impact that supplying the information would have on our other operations.
In the interest of providing you with information that is feasibly retrievable. We invite you to refine
the scope of your request and email it through to us for consideration.
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 (OIAs) Government Services
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
