To: Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand
Cc: Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health; Te Whatu Ora National Cardiac Network; National Stroke Network
Via: FYI.org.nz

Tēnā koutou,

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following aggregated national-level data for cardiology, stroke, and acute medical services across New Zealand, covering the period 1 January 2018 to the most recent data available in 2025.

No personally identifiable information is requested.

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1. Cardiology workforce capacity (2018–2025)

For each calendar year 2018–2025, please provide:

1.1 Workforce numbers

For:
• Cardiologists
• Cardiac physiologists
• Cardiac sonographers / echocardiographers
• Allied cardiac technicians
• Cardiac catheter laboratory staff (nurses + technicians)

Please provide:
• Headcount
• Employed FTE
• Funded FTE
• Vacant FTE
• Vacancy rate (%)

1.2 Workforce shortages

Any national-level estimates or modelling of numerical FTE shortfall for each profession, including forecasts to 2030 if available.

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2. Cardiology wait times & service delays

For each year 2018–2025:

2.1 Diagnostics
• Median and 90th percentile wait times for:
• Echocardiography
• Exercise tolerance testing
• Holter monitoring
• CT coronary angiography
• Cardiac MRI

2.2 Treatment and intervention
• Average and median time from referral to:
• First specialist appointment (FSA)
• Angiography
• Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)
• Electrophysiology procedures
• Number and % of patients breaching recommended timeframes for chest pain or suspected cardiac disease.

2.3 Acute presentations
• Number of STEMI and NSTEMI cases per year
• Median time-to-balloon (door-to-balloon)
• Median time-to-lysis (if applicable)
• Number of hospitals meeting/not meeting national performance indicators

If routinely held dashboards are used, please provide them.

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3. Stroke workforce & capacity data (2018–2025)

3.1 Workforce

For:
• Stroke physicians
• Neurologists
• Stroke nurse specialists
• Thrombectomy-capable radiologists
• Rehabilitation physicians

Provide:
• Headcount, FTE, funded FTE, vacant FTE, vacancy rate.

3.2 Stroke pathway performance

For each year 2018–2025:
• Median time from ED arrival to CT/CTA
• Door-to-needle time for thrombolysis
• Door-to-groin time for thrombectomy
• % of stroke patients receiving thrombolysis
• % eligible patients receiving thrombectomy
• Availability of 24/7 thrombectomy across NZ (list hospitals)

3.3 Delayed presentations

Any reports or dashboards showing:
• Increased late presentation (outside thrombolysis window)
• Causes identified such as ED delays, GP shortages, or reduced acute capacity

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4. Acute medical services (2018–2025)

Please provide:

4.1 Workforce

For acute medicine specialists and acute assessment units (AAUs):
• Headcount
• FTE
• Funded vs vacant FTE
• Sickness/absence FTE lost

4.2 ED & AAU performance indicators
• Median wait times for triage categories 1–5
• Number and % of patients leaving before being seen
• Breaches of 6-hour ED target (if still monitored internally)
• Annual number of “unsafe staffing” or “red status” shifts
• Internal capacity/demand dashboards (with redactions if required)

4.3 Bed capacity constraints

For each year:
• Number of medical beds
• Average occupancy rate
• Number of days >95% occupancy
• Instances of bed block or “access block”
• Transfers or diversions due to lack of acute capacity

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5. Mortality risk indicators & adverse events (2018–2025)

These questions seek aggregated, non-identifiable data.

5.1 Adverse events linked to delays

Any aggregated national reporting on:
• Mortality associated with delayed cardiology or stroke care
• Adverse events linked to delayed imaging, diagnostics, or treatment
• Critical or severe harm events recorded in the national incident management system relating to:
• ED overcrowding
• Acute bed shortages
• Delay in FSA
• Delay in radiology

If no analysis exists, please confirm.

5.2 “Deaths within 30 days of acute presentation”

If held, please provide annual aggregated totals for:
• Acute cardiac deaths within 30 days of presentation
• Acute stroke deaths within 30 days
• Deaths linked to delayed transfer or ED wait longer than 6 hours
(If not held, please confirm.)

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6. Impacts of workforce shortages on acute outcomes

For 2018–2025, provide any internal risk assessments or reports describing:
• Links between cardiology, stroke, or acute medicine shortages and increased morbidity/mortality
• Clinical safety concerns raised by district clinical directors
• Any warnings escalated to national leadership or Ministers
• Any reviews of “near-miss” or sentinel events relating to acute care delays

If none exist, please confirm.

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7. Ministerial briefings (2020–2025)

Please provide:
• A list of all briefings, memos, or reports to the Minister of Health relating to:
• cardiology capacity
• stroke pathway performance
• ED overcrowding
• acute medical shortages
• any acute care risk or service degradation
• And provide the first five documents in each category.

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8. Format
• Please provide numerical data in CSV or Excel where possible.
• Provide documents as PDF.
• If another agency holds specific information (e.g., National Stroke Network), please transfer under s14.

Kind regards,
Spencer Jones