16 June 2025
Zach Brown
[FYI request #31105 email]
Tēnā koe Zach
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00089145
Thank you for your email on 27 May 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for the
following under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
“The number and types of elective procedures expected to be outsourced to private
providers as part of the 30,000+ surgeries planned by June 2026.
Any internal assessments or briefings on how this may affect surgical training opportunities,
particularly for registrars.
Records of consultation with RACS, MCNZ, or relevant training bodies regarding the
training impact of outsourcing.
Any planned mitigation strategies to preserve training volume and quality.
Monitoring frameworks in place to assess how outsourcing may affect training outcomes
(e.g. case numbers, logbooks, or competency data).”
Response
Items identified within scope of your request are itemised in
Appendix One. The information
requested is, or is soon to be publicly available, and is therefore refused under section 18(d) of the
Act. The information that is published or soon to be published can be found on the Health New
Zealand website here:
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/publications/outsourcing-elective-
treatments-advice
Records of consultation with RACS, MCNZ, or relevant training bodies regarding the
training impact of outsourcing.
Health NZ has not had any formal consultations with Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
(RACS) or Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ), as such this part of your request is refused
under section 18(e) of the OIA as this information does not exist. Health NZ is stil in the early
stages of developing its approach to private training.
However, we can advise Health NZ hosted a meeting on 26 May 2025 between 1.30pm and 3pm
on
Private training capacity and settings – Health NZ | Colleges, which included a representation
from RACS and a number of surgical associations, this was to seek College input to our approach.
Health NZ has also had less formal engagements with various Colleges and associations on the
topic.
This engagement follows discussions with the Council of Medical Colleges in 2024, which flagged
private training capacity as an area where shared focus between Health NZ and Colleges was
needed. This resulted an action under our Health Workforce Plan 2024 in December 2024 focused
on private training settings: Action 4.5.
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 a
t 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. Al requester data, including your name and
contact details, wil be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Danielle Coe
Manager (OIAs) – Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Appendix One
Document Date
Titles
Comments
number
1
1 November 2024
HNZ00065783 Aide-
Refused under section 18(d)
Mémoire
of the OIA. Information is
RMO Private Sector
publicly available.
Training
2
12 December 2024
Health New Zealand –
Te Whatu Ora
Executive Leadership
Team
Surgical Outsourcing
Strategy / Procurement
3
30 January 2025
Health New Zealand –
Te Whatu Ora
Commissioner
Advice on Waitlists
Reduction Scenarios
4
10 February 2025
HNZ00078198
Accelerating
performance against the
elective treatment Health
Target via outsourcing to
June 2026
5
19 February 2025
HNZ00079260 Aide-
Mémoire
Regional Information -
Accelerating
performance against the
elective treatment Health
Target via outsourcing to
June 2026
6
13 March 2025
Memorandum Options
for improved planned
care delivery and the
private sector
7
24 March 2025
HNZ Financial Review
Refused under section 18(d)
for 2024/25: Model
of the OIA. Information wil
Reviews Interim Report, soon be publicly available.
commissioned from
Deloitte for Health NZ
8
1 April 2025
HNZ00083886 Aide
Mémoire - Delivery of the
Electives Boost
9
23 April 2025
HNZ00086454 Aide
Mémoire - Electives
Boost: Private Provider
Outsource pipeline to 30
June 2025
10
2 May 2025
HNZ00086736
Information request -
Method for counting in
Elective Boost and FSA
recovery programmes
