19 February 2026
Spencer Jones
[FYI request #32916 email]
Tēnā koe Spencer
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00104068
Thank you for your email 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 4.1 of your request, specifically whether
you would refine this part of your request to asking for Urgent Care specialists or Emergency
Medicine specialists as Health NZ does not store data specifically under the categories of acute
medicine specialists or acute assessment units (AAUs). You did not respond, accordingly Health
NZ has proceeded with the information we hold for this part of your request.
On the 17 December 2025 we advised you that we needed to extend the timeframe for your
response by 20 working days, and that you could expect a response by 11 February 2026. The
extension period factored in the OIA holiday period (25/12/25 – 15/01/26) & Waitangi Day public
holiday.
On 11 February 2026 we advised you that responding to your request was taking longer than
anticipated and confirmed we were in the process of finalising your response, which would be
released as soon as reasonably practicable.
Response
For the sake of clarity, I wil address each question in turn.
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
• Al ied 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.
Please find attached as
Appendix Two, the data that is able to be provided for points 1.1 & 1.2.
Please refer to the data caveats in the Appendix, along with the additional notes tab, which outlines
where Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) codes apply
and explains the alternative coding used where an ANZSCO code is not available. Please note
funded FTE is not able to be provided, this is classified as Contracted FTE.
Please note that this data is provisional and used for operational purposes. It has not been through
the full quality assurance process that we use before publishing data and therefore is subject to
change.
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
Part 2.1 of your request is refused under sections 18(e) and 18(f) of the OIA because we do not
hold any verifiable or reliable data relating to cardiology wait times and service delays relating to
the points listed. While some information may exist at a district level, it is collated in differing ways
and is not held centrally. Compiling this information into a usable or reliable form would require
substantial collation and research, and the OIA does not require agencies to create new
information in order to respond to a request.
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.
Regarding point 1, Health NZ is unable to provide the average and median time from referral to
First Specialist Appointment (FSA), as this information is not held within our current data
collections.
Similarly, regarding Point 2, Health NZ is unable to provide the average and median time from
referral to angiography, as this information is not held within our current data collections.
Accordingly, these parts of your request are refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, on the basis
that the information requested is not held in the format requested.
However, to assist you under section 13 of the OIA, we are able to provide Health Target data
relating to shorter waits for FSA, specifical y the number of patients waiting less than 120 days &
Angiography data on patients treated within 90 days. This information is attached within
Appendix
Three.
Please note that this data is provisional and used for operational purposes. It has not been through
the full quality assurance process that we use before publishing data and therefore is subject to
change.
The OIA does not require agencies to create new information in order to respond to a request. In
this instance, providing the requested averages and medians would require the creation of new
information from underlying data, which Health NZ is not required to do under the OIA.
Points 3,4 & 5 of this part of your request are refused under sections 18(e) and 18(f) of the OIA
because we do not hold any verifiable or reliable information relating to percutaneous coronary
intervention (PCI), electrophysiology procedures & number and % of patients breaching
recommended timeframes for chest pain or suspected cardiac disease. While some information
may exist at a district level, it is collated in differing ways and is not held centrally. Compiling this
information into a usable or reliable form would require substantial collation and research, and the
OIA does not require agencies to create new information in order to respond to a request.
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.
Part 2.3 of your request is refused under sections 18(e) and 18(f) of the OIA because we do not
hold any verifiable or reliable information relating to acute presentations relating to the points listed.
While some information may exist at a district level, it is collated in differing ways and is not held
centrally. Compiling this information into a usable or reliable form would require substantial
collation and research, and the OIA does not require agencies to create new information in order to
respond to a request.
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.
Please refer to
Appendix Two, the data that is able to be provided for the above points. Please
refer to the data caveats in the Appendix, along with the additional notes tab, which outlines where
Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) codes apply and
explains the alternative coding used where an ANZSCO code is not available. Please note funded
FTE is not able to be provided, this is classified as Contracted FTE.
Please note that this data is provisional and used for operational purposes. It has not been through
the full quality assurance process that we use before publishing data and therefore is subject to
change.
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)
Please refer to
Appendix Four, at the bottom of this response
, which sets out our decision on the
release of documents within scope of points 1 – 5 of this part of your request. The documents able
to be released are attached as
Appendix Five.
We searched our available records from July 2022, which is when Health NZ was established. We
are unable to search for records prior to that date as our agency does not hold this information
before July 2022, therefore the part of your request for records prior to 2022 is refused under
section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information is not held.
Please note there is only incidence data and not performance against a set pathway.
In addition to the data requested in points 1 - 5, the data supplied also reports on the following:
• Acute stroke admissions
• Reperfusion rate trends
• Reperfusion complications
• Thrombolysis rate trends
• Thrombolysis metrics
• Thrombolysis complications
• Thrombolysis outcomes
• Stroke clot retrieval rate trends
• Stroke clot retrieval metrics
• Stroke clot retrieval complications
• Stroke clot retrieval outcomes
In regard to point 6, this information is not held in a centralised format. Accordingly, this part of
your request is 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.
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
Part 3.3 of your request is refused under sections 18(e) and 18(f) of the OIA because we do not
hold any verifiable or reliable information relating to the above points. While some information may
exist at a district level, it is collated in differing ways and is not held central y. Compiling this
information into a usable or reliable form would require substantial collation and research, and the
OIA does not require agencies to create new information in order to respond to a request.
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
Please find attached as
Appendix Six, the data that is able to be provided for points 1 & 2. Please
refer to the data caveats in the Appendix, listed in the general notes tab.
Regarding points 3 & 4, please refer to
Appendix Two, summary 2 tab. Please take note of the
caveats listed.
Please note that this data is provisional and used for operational purposes. It has not been through
the full quality assurance process that we use before publishing data and therefore is subject to
change.
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 stil monitored internally)
• Annual number of “unsafe staffing” or “red status” shifts
• Internal capacity/demand dashboards (with redactions if required)
Regarding points 1 – 3 and 5, please refer to
Appendix Three. Please note that this data is
provisional and used for operational purposes. It has not been through the full quality assurance
process that we use before publishing data and therefore is subject to change.
Please note for point 5 your request is refused under section 18(f) of the OIA. While information
exists at a district level, it is collated in differing ways and is not held centrally. Compiling this
information into a usable or reliable form would require substantial collation and research, and the
OIA does not require agencies to create new information in order to respond to a request.
However, we have provided an example of real-time internal capacity/demand dashboard as figure
1, within Appendix Three.
Regarding point 4, and as noted in our previous response to you (
HNZ00104073), there is
currently no nationally consolidated dataset that captures Emergency Department (ED) staffing
shortages, rosters falling below safe staffing 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. 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.
Accordingly, this part of your request is 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.
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
Regarding point 1, please refer to
Appendix Seven. Please note that defining exactly what
constitutes a medical bed in the current health setting is not straightforward. To address this,
Health NZ have used the Ward Service Type al ocation from the GMO/National Ward Dimension
table. This reflects how each ward identifies its predominant service. Inevitably, this includes some
wards that operate as combined medical-surgical services.
Based on this categorisation, the medical ward types Health NZ believe are in scope are:
ARHOP (Adult Rehabilitation &
Health of Older People)
Chemotherapy and Oncology
Medicine - CCU
Medicine - General
Medicine - Respiratory
Medicine/Surgical - Combined
Medicine/Surgical - Renal
Mental Health, paediatrics, maternity, day wards, surgical wards and critical care wards are all
excluded from this data.
Regarding point 2, Health NZ is able to provide bed utilisation, which is slightly different from
occupancy and is the more appropriate measure in this context. Bed occupancy reflects the
percentage of beds in use at a specific point in time, whereas bed utilisation represents the
average proportion of beds used over a defined period. This is provided to you by ward service
type as
Appendix Eight.
Please find information for point 3, regarding a count of days with bed utilisation being > 95%, this
has been provided to you in both ward type and combined national figure formats attached as
Appendix Nine.
Please note that this data is provisional and used for operational purposes. It has not been through
the full quality assurance process that we use before publishing data and therefore is subject to
change.
Points 4 & 5 are refused under sections 18(e) and 18(f) of the OIA because we do not hold any
verifiable or reliable information relating to instances of bed block or “access block” & transfers or
diversions due to lack of acute capacity. While some information may exist at a district level, it is
collated in differing ways and is not held centrally. Compiling this information into a usable or
reliable form would require substantial collation and research, and the OIA does not require
agencies to create new information in order to respond to a request.
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.
Health NZ does not hold aggregated national reporting on adverse events linked to delayed
imaging, diagnostics, or treatment, nor does it currently operate a national incident management
system. Accordingly, this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the
information requested is not held.
Following the establishment of Health NZ, work is underway to develop a single national
repository. As no analysis or reports of the type you have requested currently exist, this aspect of
your request is also refused under section 18(e) of the OIA.
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.)
Part 5.2 of your request is refused under sections 18(e) and 18(f) of the OIA because we do not
hold any verifiable or reliable information relating to the above points. While some information may
exist at a district level, it is collated in differing ways and is not held central y. Compiling this
information into a usable or reliable form would require substantial collation and research, and the
OIA does not require agencies to create new information in order to respond to a request.
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.
Regarding point 1, links between cardiology, stroke, or acute medicine shortages and increased
morbidity/mortality, there have been no risk work ups undertaken relevant to these clinical
specialties; therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(e) as it does not exist.
Point 2 is refused under sections 18(e) and 18(f) of the OIA because we do not hold any verifiable
or reliable information relating to clinical safety concerns raised by district clinical directors. While
some information may exist at a district level, it is collated in differing ways and is not held
centrally. Compiling this information into a usable or reliable form would require substantial
collation and research, and the OIA does not require agencies to create new information in order to
respond to a request.
Regarding point 3, Health NZ does not hold any records of warnings being escalated to national
leadership or Ministers regarding the impacts of workforce shortages on acute outcomes.
Accordingly, this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information
is not held.
Regarding point 4, Health NZ does not hold national reports on sentinel events relating to acute
care delays; accordingly, this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the
information is not held. Al SAC 1 and 2 events are required to be reported to the Health Quality
and Safety Commission (HQSC) by Health NZ, and Health NZ accesses this data via the HQSC
platform.
HQSC reports adverse event data publicly, here:
•
https://reports.hqsc.govt.nz/AdverseEventsQuarterly/?_gl=1*1xm3fu7*_ga*MTIxOTQxODM4O
C4xNzU5Mjg5NTI0*_ga_TG4RCRSBWS*czE3NTk5NjAxMzckbzEyJGcxJHQxNzU5OTYwMTY
2JGozMSRsMCRoMA
•
https://www.hqsc.govt.nz/our-work/system-safety/healing-learning-and-improving-from-harm-
policy/infographic-health-and-disability-sector-adverse-events/
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.
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 listed above. Therefore, this part of
your request is refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information is not held.
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
Danielle Coe
Manager (OIA) Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Appendix Four
#
Date
Title
Decision on release
1
2022
Annual Aotearoa Stroke Reperfusion Released in full.
Report
2
2023
Annual Aotearoa Stroke Reperfusion Released in full.
Report
3
2024
Annual Aotearoa Stroke Reperfusion Released in full.
Report
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
