12 March 2026
Spencer Jones
[FYI request #32912 email]
Tēnā koe Spencer
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00200677
Thank you for your email on 12 February 2026, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for
information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA): Your full request is attached as
Appendix One.
Response
Set out below is a response to your request.
Part A — National ED Staffing Strain / Safe Staffing Reporting
Health NZ does hold any national level reporting that would enable us to respond to this question.
We are therefore refusing a response to this part of your request under section 18(g) of the OIA -
the information requested is not held by Health New Zealand and the person dealing with the
request believes that the information is not held by any other agency.
Part B — Medical Retirements (National-Level Extracts Only)
Part C — Workforce Exit Categories (Existing HRIS Outputs Only)
Medical retirements
We can confirm that we do not have “
any national-level aggregated extract, report, or dashboards
that report on Medical retirements, health-related employment terminations, or Il -health retirement
classifications.”
Workforce Exit Categories
We can confirm that Health NZ does not have any “
existing national summary report, dashboard,
or standard HR extract** that categorises workforce exits by reason (in any pre-coded format
already used internally).”
Part D — Ministerial Briefings (Post-July 2022 Only)
In order to provide a list (title and date only) of any ministerial briefings that relate to the topics you
have identified; for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 November 2023, Health NZ would need to divert
personnel from their other core duties and allocate extra time to complete this task.
The inherent difficulty with information searches of this nature is that our systems select all
documents that contain the key words specified - i.e. in searching for ‘workforce shortages’ the
system delivers all references associated with ‘workforce’ and/or ‘shortages’ in it, subsequently
resulting in further filtering required for satisfactory results. The same process would need to be
undertaken for the other subjects specified. This time-consuming exercise when undertaken does
not guarantee successful results and requires the diversion of significant administrative resources.
The diversion of these resources would impair our ability to carry out our other core functions. As
such, your request is refused under section 18(f) of the OIA, as substantial research and collation
would be required to produce such a list.
I can advise that lists of Ministerial briefings and briefings we have published online since
December 2023 are publicly available on the Health NZ website.
Publications – Health New
Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
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.
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.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Matthew McLay
Manager Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Appendix One –
Request of 12 February 2026
I refer to Health New Zealand’s response **HNZ00104073 (27 January 2026)** regarding
national medical and nursing workforce data (2018–2025).
This follow-up request is intentionally limited to **existing national-level reports,
dashboards, or extracts already held**, and does not seek the creation of new information.
---
Part A — National ED Staffing Strain / Safe Staffing Reporting
Please provide:
1. The **titles, dates, and repository locations** (e.g., SharePoint site, dashboard name,
reporting system) of any **national-level reports, dashboards, or regular summary outputs**
held by Health NZ (from July 2022 to present) that relate to:
* Emergency Department (ED) staffing strain;
* Safe staffing compliance (including TrendCare national summaries, if any);
* ED overtime hours aggregated nationally;
* National reports identifying hospitals operating under staffing pressure or escalation
status.
If no such national-level reporting outputs exist, please confirm that explicitly.
I am not requesting underlying local data or new collation—only the identification and
release of existing national reports or confirmation that none exist.
---
Part B — Medical Retirements (National-Level Extracts Only)
Please confirm whether Health NZ holds **any national-level aggregated extract, report, or
dashboard** (in any format) that includes counts of:
* Medical retirements;
* Health-related employment terminations; or
* Ill-health retirement classifications,
for medical or nursing staff from July 2022 to present.
If such an aggregated extract or report exists, please provide it in the format held.
If no national-level extract exists, please confirm that explicitly.
This request does not seek individual records or the creation of new datasets.
---
Part C — Workforce Exit Categories (Existing HRIS Outputs Only)
In your previous response, exit reasons were declined under s 18(f).
Please confirm whether Health NZ holds **any existing national summary report,
dashboard, or standard HR extract** that categorises workforce exits by reason (in any pre-
coded format already used internally).
If such a national summary output exists, please provide the most recent version in the
format held.
If no such national summary exists, please confirm that explicitly.
I am not requesting extraction of free-text exit interviews or new collation—only any
structured, already-existing national reporting output.
---
Part D — Ministerial Briefings (Post-July 2022 Only)
Please provide:
1. A list (title and date only) of any ministerial briefings produced by Health NZ from July
2022 to present that relate to:
* Workforce shortages;
* ED staffing strain;
* Medical or nursing workforce risk;
* Safe staffing compliance.
If providing copies would trigger s 18(f), the list alone is sufficient.
---
Clarification
This request seeks only:
* Existing national reports,
* Existing dashboards,
* Existing standard extracts,
* Or explicit confirmation that none exist.
No new data creation or local-level collation is requested.
