27 January 2026
Spencer Jones
[FYI request #32912 email]
Tēnā koe Spencer
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00104073
Thank you for your request, transferred by Ministry of Health on 21 November 2025, asking Health
New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) for the following under the Official Information Act 1982
(the OIA), attached as
Appendix One.
On 28 November, Health NZ sought clarification on Part 4 of your request, specifically whether
occupational health risks referred to workplace health risks, and whether the request applied to all
staff or only certain groups, such as senior medical officers (SMOs).
You responded on 8 December 2025 with the following:
“I confirm that my request is for the full date range originally stated:
1 January 2018 – 30 September 2025 (or the most recent available month in 2025).
To avoid any ambiguity, I also confirm:
• The request includes both former DHB workforce data (2018–2022) and Te Whatu Ora workforce
data (2022–2025).
• Registration data from MCNZ/NCNZ is included only where held internally or used in workforce
planning.
• If any datasets are held in different reporting intervals (e.g., quarterly, annual), please provide
them in the form most readily available.
• If any part of the request requires refinement to avoid refusal under s18(f), please contact me — I
am happy to adjust formatting or granularity while maintaining the overall scope.
Please proceed with the request on this basis.”
Your response did not address the clarification on occupational health risks, and accordingly
Health NZ has proceeded with the information available to us.
Response
For the sake of clarity, I wil address each question in turn.
1. Annual workforce size (2018–2025)
For each year 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and the most recent data available for
2025:
1.1 Doctors
• Total number of doctors actively practising in NZ (holding a current APC).
• Breakdown by:
• Vocationally registered / General scope
• Public vs private
• NZ-trained vs internationally trained
1.2 Nurses
• Total number of actively practising:
• Registered Nurses
• Enrolled Nurses
• Nurse Practitioners
• Public vs private sector distribution
•NZ-trained vs internationally qualified nurses (IQNs)
1.3 Other regulated professions
• Total actively practising:
• Midwives
• Major allied health categories (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, radiography,
mental health professionals)
Please find attached as
Appendix Two, the data that is able to be provided at national level for the
above points
. For further clarity we have provided the rates methodology as
Appendix Three.
Where there are blanks in the tables, this indicates that no data has been reported. Accordingly,
this information is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as this information does not exist or,
despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
2. Workforce exits, attrition, and retirements (2018–2025)
For each year 2018–2025, please provide the number of practitioners who left the workforce,
broken down (if recorded) into:
2.1 Doctors and nurses
• Retirements (with age bands, e.g. <50, 50–59, 60–64, 65+)
• Practising certificate not renewed / moved to non-practising / removed from register
• Permanent relocation overseas
• Resignations from Te Whatu Ora / former DHBs
• Resignations from primary/community care
• Early retirement or medical retirement
• Deaths (aggregated only – no identifying data)
2.2 Reasons for exit
If reason-for-exit coding exists, please provide the categories and counts for:
• Burnout
• Workload
• Pay / remuneration issues
• Workplace stress
• Health-related reasons
• Family/whānau reasons
• Other
If your system uses different categories, please supply those.
Please find information related to Part 2.1, points 1,2,4 & 5 attached within
Appendix Two.
Regarding the rest of your questions above, in order to provide your request Health NZ would need
to divert personnel from their core duties and allocate extra time to complete this task. The
diversion of these resources would impair Health NZ’s ability to carry out our other core functions.
Therefore, these parts of your request are refused under section 18(f) of the OIA, as it requires
substantial collation.
3. Vacancy levels and shortages (2018–2025)
For Te Whatu Ora (and DHBs pre-2022), please provide:
3.1 Vacant FTE positions
For 30 June and 31 December of each year 2018–2025:
• Number of funded doctor FTE positions
• Number of vacant doctor FTE
• Number of funded nursing FTE positions
• Number of vacant nursing FTE
• Vacancy rate (%) for each profession
• Breakdown by region/district
• Breakdown by major service (ED, ICU, general medicine, theatre, maternity, mental
health)
Please find attached as
Appendix Four, the data that can be provided at national level for the
above points. Please also note that for points 1 & 2 Health NZ can only provide the number of
Doctor & Nurses FTE positions, not funded positions.
3.2 National shortage estimates
Any workforce modelling or workforce-plan documents estimating numerical shortfalls in:
• Doctors
• Nurses
• Midwives
•Al ied health
for any year 2018–2025 (including projections out to 2030 if available).
Health NZ monitors national FTEs numbers and shortages on a regular basis as reflected in our
nursing analysis page
Health workforce plan profession — nursing analysis - Health New Zealand |
Te Whatu Ora. Additionally, Health NZ monitors national FTEs numbers and shortages on a
regular basis as reflected in our nursing, medicine, midwifery and specialist allied care analysis
page here:
•
Health workforce plan profession — nursing analysis - Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
•
Health workforce plan — medicine analysis - Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
•
Health workforce plan — midwifery analysis - Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora; and
•
Health workforce plan — specialist allied care analysis - Health New Zealand | Te Whatu
Ora
The Health Workforce plan 2024 was developed using data and modelling which can be accessed
here
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/publications/health-workforce-plan-2024
Please find attached as
Appendix Five, the latest summary (2025) of projected shortages or
surpluses for each major specialty and allied health workforce. For further clarity we have provided
the forecasting methodology as
Appendix Six.
4. Illness-related leave, long-term sickness, and medical retirements (2020–2025)
Without identifying individuals, please provide aggregated data for each year 2020–2025 on:
• Rates of long-term sick leave (>20 days) for doctors and nurses
• Total hours or FTE lost due to sickness
• Number of medical retirements per year
Any internal reporting on:
• Rising il ness-related absences
• Patterns of unexpected or early medical retirements
• Occupational health risks
• Use of temporary/agency staff to cover sick leave
• Impacts on service delivery
If separate sickness records exist for:
• COVID-19-related il ness
• Non-COVID illness
please provide both.
Please find attached within
Appendix Four, data for points 1 & 2 relating to rates of sick leave
provided at National level. This is not referred to as long-term sickness at Health NZ. Please note
this is not recorded in FTE lost due to sickness. Additionally, regarding Point 3, Health NZ does not
hold records relating to medical retirements. Accordingly, these parts of your request are refused
under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information is not held in an appropriate format by Health
NZ, and the agency is not required to create new information to respond to requests.
Regarding points 4 & 5, rising il ness-related absences are not reported on a systematic basis in
any regular Health and Safety reports. Patterns of unexpected or early medical retirements are not
reported on by Occupational Health or Health and Safety, therefore both parts of your request are
refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the information does not exist.
In regard to point 6 of this part of your request, as noted above Health NZ sought clarification from
you to better understand the Occupational Health Risks referred to in your request. As this
clarification was not provided, we are unable to identify the information sought with due particularity
and therefore refuse this part of your request under section 12(2) of the OIA.
Points 7 & 8 of this part of your request are refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the
information does not exist.
Regarding Points 9 & 10, Sickness records relating to Covid-19 related il ness are not held by
Health NZ, and this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the OIA. Information
relating to Non – Covid il ness is provided in
Appendix Four at National level. Individual level
details are withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to protect privacy of natural persons.
5. Impacts of vaccination mandates (if analysed) I am not requesting personal health information.
Only aggregated workforce-impact analysis.
For the period 2021–2023, please provide any internal analysis, reports, or datasets relating to:
• Total number of health workers stood down under vaccination orders
Number who subsequently:
• Returned to work
• Resigned
• Retired
• Permanently exited the health workforce
• Any modelling, risk analysis, or workforce impact assessments performed in relation
to mandates or their removal.
If no analysis was undertaken, please confirm this.
Regarding Point 1, total number of health workers stood down under vaccination orders, Health NZ
has provided you with the figures that most closely align with this part your request below. Please
note, it is not mandatory for every employee who leaves Health New Zealand to complete an exit
form. Accordingly, the dataset is not comprehensive and does not provide specific reasons for
leaving.
Waikato
114
Taranaki
15
BOP
73
Tairawhiti
9
Lakes
36
• Returned to work - Health NZ does not have data structures to support this data – e.g., they
could have returned to work in another role, district or sector stakeholder.
• Resigned
- Health NZ registration categories and reasons do not enable us to provide a
response to this question relating to vaccination orders.
• Retired - Health NZ does not hold data on why people retire relating to vaccination
orders.ie. ‘Retired due to COVID’.
• Permanently exited the health workforce
- Health NZ does hold data on staff permanently
exiting the workforce relating to vaccination orders.
• Any modelling, risk analysis, or workforce impact assessments performed in relation to
mandates or their removal – No Health NZ districts undertook the referenced analysis, as it
was not required.
As outlined above, for these parts of your request Health NZ does not hold the information sought,
the information does not exist, or Health NZ is not required to hold the information. Accordingly,
these parts of the request are refused under section 18(g) of the OIA.
6. Emergency department capacity and staffing strain (2018–2025)
Any national reports, dashboards, or numerical datasets on:
• ED staffing shortages
• Rosters below safe-staffing levels
• Instances where hospitals operated under “extreme staffing pressure” statuses
Any CCDM (Care Capacity Demand Management) metrics indicating:
• Under-staffed shifts
• Failure to meet safe staffing targets
• Use of overtime/extra shifts to maintain minimum safety
Points 1 – 3, there is currently no nationally consolidated dataset that captures Emergency
Department (ED) staffing shortages, rosters falling below safestaffing levels, or instances where
hospitals have operated under “extreme staffing pressure” statuses. While some districts col ect
this information for local operational purposes, reporting methods, definitions, and data systems
vary widely, meaning the information is not standardised and cannot be aggregated reliably at a
national level. Health New Zealand is undertaking work to improve the consistency of workforce
and operational data collection across Aotearoa; however, these systemwide improvements are
stil in progress and wil take time to establish before supporting national level reporting of this kind.
Regarding Point 4, from a national Safe Staffing Healthy Workplace (SSHW) perspective,
Emergency Department data remains limited, as the final departments transitioned to TrendCare
(patient acuity and workforce management software) in early 2024. While Shifts Below Target
(SBT) is sometimes used as an indicator of staffing shortages, it does not accurately reflect ED
operational realities, and the underlying staffing‑deficit hours vary too greatly by department to
serve as a meaningful national measure.
Regarding Point 5, Health NZ does not hold information on failures to meet safe staffing levels, and
shifts below target are not an appropriate proxy. No suitable nationally held measures exist for this
purpose.
Regarding Point 6, Health NZ does not hold national information on overtime undertaken to
maintain minimum safety standards, and producing such information would require significant
collation or creation.
Accordingly, these parts of your request are refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the
information is not held in an appropriate format by Health NZ, and the agency is not required to
create new information to respond to requests.
7. Briefings to Ministers (2020–2025)
Please provide:
• A list of all briefings, aide-memoire, or reports to Ministers of Health where the subject matter
relates to:
• Workforce shortages
• Workforce exits
• System capacity or staffing strain
• Early retirement or il ness trends
• Overseas migration of doctors or nurses
• And for up to the first five documents in each category:
• A copy of the briefing (with redactions if necessary)
We searched our available records from July 2022, which is when Health NZ was established, for
the keywords you provided. We are unable to search for records prior to that date as out agency
does not hold this information before July 2022. Within the period for which records are held, no
documents were located that match the specified keywords. Therefore, this part of your request is
refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information is not held.
Where we have withheld information under section 9(2) of the OIA, we have considered any
countervailing public interests in the release of this information. We do not believe that the public
interests outweigh the need to withhold in this instance.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us a
t [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. Al requester data, including your name and
contact details, wil be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Sasha Wood
Head of Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
