Kia ora Spencer

 

Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act), received by the Ministry of Health on 20 November 2025. You
requested:

 

1. Mental health & addiction workforce (2015–2025)

For each year:

1.1 Workforce totals (headcount, employed FTE, funded FTE, vacant FTE)

For:

Psychiatrists
Child & adolescent psychiatrists
Psychiatric registrars
Psychologists
Mental health nurses
Alcohol & drug clinicians
Social workers in mental health
Community Support Workers
Crisis Team (CATT/CAHT) clinicians
Peer support workforce

1.2 Workforce shortages

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

2. Crisis response performance and delays (2018–2025)

For each year:

2.1 Crisis line & CATT response times

Median, average, and 90th percentile response times for:
Crisis phone triage
CATT in-person response
Number of crisis calls per year
Number of unresponded or abandoned crisis calls
Number of crises diverted to Police due to workforce shortages

2.2 Acute presentations

Number of mental health emergency presentations to ED
Number of ED presentations waiting >6 hours
Number requiring overnight ED stays due to lack of beds
Number awaiting psychiatric review >8 hours

3. Inpatient & acute bed capacity (2015–2025)

3.1 Acute mental health units

For each year:

Number of acute mental health beds per region
Funded FTE vs actual staffing
Average occupancy
Number of days occupancy >95%
Number of patients held in ED due to lack of psychiatric beds

3.2 Seclusion & restraint

Annual counts of seclusion episodes
Annual counts of restraint episodes
Any internal reporting linking increased seclusion to staffing shortages

4. Follow-up after suicide attempt or crisis (2018–2025)

Please provide:

% of people seen within 48 hours after a suicide attempt
% seen within 7 days
Number not followed up within 7 days
Any internal risk reports on failure to follow up
Any analysis of barriers to timely community follow-up (workforce, risk,
access)

If the data is not collected nationally, please confirm.

5. Suicidology — aggregated data only (2015–2025)

For each year:

5.1 Suicide deaths

Total suicide deaths (annual)
Age-banded totals (0–14, 15–24, 25–44, 45–64, 65+)
Regional breakdown
Ethnicity breakdown (Mâori, Pacific, European/Other, Asian)

5.2 Self-harm & suicide attempts

Number of ED presentations for self-harm
Number of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm
Number of repeat self-harm presentations
Number of repeat self-harm hospitalisations

5.3 Contact with services before suicide (aggregated only)

Number and % of suicide deaths where the person had contact with:
Mental health services in previous 7 days
Mental health services in previous 30 days
ED in previous 30 days
Primary care in previous 30 days

If no such analysis exists, please confirm.

6. Service strain & internal risk assessments (2018–2025)

Please provide any internal reports or dashboards relating to:

Threats to patient safety from understaffed crisis teams
ED overcrowding impacting psychiatric patients
Shortages of psychiatrists or psychologists
Delayed FSAs (First Specialist Appointments) for acute mental health
Closure or reduction of mental health units
Te Whatu Ora internal “red status” or “unsafe staffing” alerts
Any risk assessments linking workforce shortages to harm, suicide risk, or
delayed care

If risk assessments do not exist, please confirm.

7. Police involvement due to lack of mental health capacity

For each year 2018–2025:
Number of mental health crisis events handled primarily by Police
Number of mental health crises where Police transported patients due to
lack of clinical availability
Number of Section 109 Mental Health Act detentions
Any internal analysis on Police substitution for clinical crisis care

8. Waiting times for mental health FSAs (2018–2025)

For each year:
Median wait time to first specialist assessment
% of urgent referrals seen within target time
% waiting >8 weeks, >12 weeks, >6 months
Any regional variation reports

9. Youth & adolescent mental health (2015–2025)

For each year:
FTE of child & adolescent psychiatrists
FTE of psychologists working with 0–17
Number of youth acute presentations
Number of youth self-harm hospitalisations
Wait times for CAMHS FSAs (median + 90th percentile)
Any reports identifying rising acuity or risk levels

10. Ministerial briefings (2020–2025)

Please provide:

A list of all briefings, memos, and reports relating to:
Crisis services
Suicide trends
Workforce degradation
ED mental health pressures
Youth suicide risk
And the first five documents in each category.

If releasing full reports triggers s18(f), the list alone is sufficient.

11. Format

Please provide all datasets in Excel or CSV.
Documents in PDF are acceptable.
If any information is held by another agency, please transfer under s14
OIA.
 

 

The reference number for your request is H2025075905. As required under
the Act, the Ministry will endeavour to respond to your request no later
than 20 working days after the day your request was
received: [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/

 

If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch ([2][email address]).

 

 

Ngâ mihi 
 
  

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health  | Manatû Hauora 

M[3]inistry of Health information releases 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Kia ora Spencer

Health NZ received two requests for information from you on 2 December
2025. One was focussed on Mental Health and the other relating to Cancer. 
We note that both requests ask for a significant amount of information. 
 

In order to respond, Health NZ would need to divert personnel from their
other core duties and allocate extra time to complete this task. The
diversion of these resources would impair our ability to carry out our
other core functions. As such, your request may be refused under section
18(f) of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) - substantial collation
and research.  We ask that you consider refining your request to the key
items you are most interested in receiving information on. 

 

We appreciate you are under no obligation to amend your request, but
requests that require substantial collation may be refused under section
18(f) of the OIA. We want to work with you to avoid this and ensure we can
provide a response that best suits your needs. 

Please let us know by the end of Friday 5 December 2025 whether you are
prepared to amend or clarify your request and if so, how. 

Please note, under section 15 of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA),
any clarification or amendments made to a request within seven days after
the date it is received, that request may be treated as a new request and
the time limit for the response restarts. 

 

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 [1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
 

Ngā mihi

 

Anthea

 

Government Services

[2][email address]   

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

 

 

Your requests:

HNZ00104144

Given the increasing public concern about cancer incidence, access to
diagnostics, workforce shortages, and delays in treatment, I request the
following information under the Official Information Act 1982.

This request covers the period 1 January 2015 to the most recent data
available in 2025, and applies to the following cancers (where data is
available or routinely coded):
       •       Breast
       •       Colorectal
       •       Lung
       •       Prostate
       •       Pancreatic
       •       Haematological cancers (e.g., lymphoma, leukaemia)
       •       Any category labelled as “rare”,aggressive”, or
“rapidlyprogressive” cancers

⸻

1. Cancer incidence – annual totals (2015–2025)

For each year 2015–2025:

1.1 The total number of new cancer diagnoses in New Zealand.
1.2 Annual totals for each major cancer type listed above.
1.3 Annual percentage change year-on-year for each cancer type (or provide
raw
data so this can be calculated).
1.4 Any internal dashboards, surveillance reports, or monitoring tables
used by
Te Aho o Te Kahu or Te Whatu Ora to track incidence trends.

⸻

2. Stage at diagnosis (2015–2025)

For each cancer type (where recorded):

2.1 Annual numbers of cancers diagnosed at Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3,
Stage 4,and “not staged”.
2.2 Any internal or published analysis on stage migration over time
(e.g.,increasing late-stage diagnoses).
2.3 Any internal risk assessments that identify factors contributing to
later diagnosis.

⸻

3. Diagnostic delays (2018–2025)

Please provide any national-level data or internal reports showing:

3.1 Average and median time from GP referral to first specialist
assessment
(FSA).
3.2 Average and median time from FSA to diagnostic confirmation.
3.3 Number and proportion of cases breaching the Faster Cancer Treatment
(FCT)
timeframes:
       •       62 day target
       •       31 day target

3.4 Any analysis of:
       •       causes of diagnostic delay
       •       the impact of service closures, under-staffing, or
workforce
shortages
       •       regional variation in delays

If no analysis has been completed, please confirm.

⸻

4. Treatment delays and capacity (2018–2025)

For each year:

4.1 Median and average time from diagnosis to first treatment (surgery,
chemo,radiation).
4.2 Number and proportion of cases breaching expected treatment
timeframes.
4.3 Radiology and oncology service capacity indicators, including:
       •       available FTE per region
       •       vacancy rates
       •       backlog numbers
       •       outsourcing levels (private or overseas)

4.4 Any internal assessments of risk to cancer outcomes from staffing
shortages.

⸻

5. Mortality trends (2015–2025)

For each cancer type:

5.1 Annual cancer mortality totals (2015–2024 or latest available).
5.2 Crude mortality rate per 100,000 population.
5.3 Age-standardised cancer mortality rate.
5.4 Any internal analysis discussing:
       •       changes in mortality trends
       •       excess mortality
       •       worsening late-stage presentation
       •       relationship between diagnosis delays and mortality

If such analysis does not exist, please confirm.

⸻

6. Sudden-onset, rapidly progressive, or unusually aggressive cancers

I am not requesting patient details — only aggregate data.

Please provide:

6.1 Any internal reporting or surveillance identifying increases in:
       •       rapidly progressive cancers
       •       cancers presenting with unusually short
symptom-to-diagnosis intervals
       •       cancers classified as “high grade”, “rare”, or
“unexpectedly aggressive”

6.2 Any comparison of these patterns before and after 2020.

If no such analysis exists, please state whether the agency undertakes
surveillance for rapid-progression cancers.

⸻

7. Delayed diagnoses due to system strain (2020–2025)

Please provide any internal reporting or analysis that identifies:

7.1 Increases in patients presenting late because of:
       •       GP shortages
       •       reduced access to screening
       •       delayed referrals
       •       ED overcrowding
       •       undersupply of radiologists or oncologists

7.2 Any briefing to Ministers discussing increased cancer morbidity or
mortality
risk due to workforce shortages.

⸻

8. Briefings to Ministers (2020–2025)

Please provide:
       •       A list of all briefings, memos, or papers to Ministers or
Associate Ministers relating to cancer incidence, delays, or mortality.
       •       For the first five documents in each category, a copy of
the
paper (with redactions as needed).

If providing all documents would trigger section 18(f), the list alone
issufficient for this part

 

HNZ00105191

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request aggregated
national-level information relating to mental health crisis services,
acute psychiatric care, and suicide-related data spanning 1 January 2015
to the most recent data
available in 2025.

No personally identifiable information is sought.

1. Mental health & addiction workforce (2015–2025)

For each year:

1.1 Workforce totals (headcount, employed FTE, funded FTE, vacant FTE)

For:

Psychiatrists
Child & adolescent psychiatrists
Psychiatric registrars
Psychologists
Mental health nurses
Alcohol & drug clinicians
Social workers in mental health
Community Support Workers
Crisis Team (CATT/CAHT) clinicians
Peer support workforce

1.2 Workforce shortages

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

2. Crisis response performance and delays (2018–2025)

For each year:

2.1 Crisis line & CATT response times

Median, average, and 90th percentile response times for:
Crisis phone triage
CATT in-person response
Number of crisis calls per year
Number of unresponded or abandoned crisis calls
Number of crises diverted to Police due to workforce shortages

2.2 Acute presentations

Number of mental health emergency presentations to ED
Number of ED presentations waiting >6 hours
Number requiring overnight ED stays due to lack of beds
Number awaiting psychiatric review >8 hours

3. Inpatient & acute bed capacity (2015–2025)

3.1 Acute mental health units

For each year:

Number of acute mental health beds per region
Funded FTE vs actual staffing
Average occupancy
Number of days occupancy >95%
Number of patients held in ED due to lack of psychiatric beds

3.2 Seclusion & restraint

Annual counts of seclusion episodes
Annual counts of restraint episodes
Any internal reporting linking increased seclusion to staffing shortages

4. Follow-up after suicide attempt or crisis (2018–2025)

Please provide:

% of people seen within 48 hours after a suicide attempt
% seen within 7 days
Number not followed up within 7 days
Any internal risk reports on failure to follow up
Any analysis of barriers to timely community follow-up (workforce, risk,
access)

If the data is not collected nationally, please confirm.

5. Suicidology — aggregated data only (2015–2025)

For each year:

5.1 Suicide deaths

Total suicide deaths (annual)
Age-banded totals (0–14, 15–24, 25–44, 45–64, 65+)
Regional breakdown
Ethnicity breakdown (Māori, Pacific, European/Other, Asian)

5.2 Self-harm & suicide attempts

Number of ED presentations for self-harm
Number of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm
Number of repeat self-harm presentations
Number of repeat self-harm hospitalisations

5.3 Contact with services before suicide (aggregated only)

Number and % of suicide deaths where the person had contact with:
Mental health services in previous 7 days
Mental health services in previous 30 days
ED in previous 30 days
Primary care in previous 30 days

If no such analysis exists, please confirm.

6. Service strain & internal risk assessments (2018–2025)

Please provide any internal reports or dashboards relating to:

Threats to patient safety from understaffed crisis teams
ED overcrowding impacting psychiatric patients
Shortages of psychiatrists or psychologists
Delayed FSAs (First Specialist Appointments) for acute mental health
Closure or reduction of mental health units
Te Whatu Ora internal “red status” or “unsafe staffing” alerts
Any risk assessments linking workforce shortages to harm, suicide risk, or
delayed care

If risk assessments do not exist, please confirm.

7. Police involvement due to lack of mental health capacity

For each year 2018–2025:
Number of mental health crisis events handled primarily by Police
Number of mental health crises where Police transported patients due to
lack of
clinical availability
Number of Section 109 Mental Health Act detentions
Any internal analysis on Police substitution for clinical crisis care

8. Waiting times for mental health FSAs (2018–2025)

For each year:
Median wait time to first specialist assessment
% of urgent referrals seen within target time
% waiting >8 weeks, >12 weeks, >6 months
Any regional variation reports

9. Youth & adolescent mental health (2015–2025)

For each year:
FTE of child & adolescent psychiatrists
FTE of psychologists working with 0–17
Number of youth acute presentations
Number of youth self-harm hospitalisations
Wait times for CAMHS FSAs (median + 90th percentile)
Any reports identifying rising acuity or risk levels

10. Ministerial briefings (2020–2025)

Please provide:

A list of all briefings, memos, and reports relating to:
Crisis services
Suicide trends
Workforce degradation
ED mental health pressures
Youth suicide risk
And the first five documents in each category.

If releasing full reports triggers s18(f), the list alone is sufficient.

11. Format

Please provide all datasets in Excel or CSV.
Documents in PDF are acceptable.
If any information is held by another agency, please transfer under s14
OIA.

Kind regards,

Spencer Jones

(via FYI.org.nz)

 

Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
delete this message

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. mailto:[email address]

Kia ora  Spencer
Thank you for your request for official information, received on 20
November 2025. The Ministry of Health is able to respond to part ten of
your request and you can expect a response from HNZ for parts one to nine
in due course: [1][email address].  In regards to part 10 of
your request as below: 
10. Ministerial briefings (2020–2025)
Please provide:
A list of all briefings, memos, and reports relating to:
Crisis services
Suicide trends
Workforce degradation
ED mental health pressures
Youth suicide risk
And the first five documents in each category.
If releasing full reports triggers s18(f), the list alone is sufficient.
We are contacting you in accordance with section 18B of the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act) as your request, as it is currently worded,
is for a very large volume of information. Your request may be refused
under section 18(f) of the Act as the information requested cannot be made
available without substantial collation or research. 
In order to provide you with information sooner and in order to work
within a more manageable request, are you happy to refine your request and
let us know the titles of the specific briefings you are interested in.
The topics that you have identified are more likely to be part of broader
briefings on mental health matters.  It is not possible to identify those
specific briefings that include any of these terms over the five-year
period you refer to.
Instead, lists of all briefings sent to all Ministers of Health, Associate
Ministers of Health, and more recently the Minister for Mental Health, can
be found here:
[2]www.health.govt.nz/information-releases/lists-of-advice-provided-to-ministers .
 
Please note, if you scroll down to the bottom of the web page, you will
find the list of documents received by Minister Clark in 2019, followed by
the relevant Ministers for 2020 and onwards.
If you would like to review these lists and refine your request by
identifying the specific briefings you are interested in, then the
Ministry will work to provide these to you.
Please note that many briefings are also already published on the
Ministry’s website.  
Please respond as soon as you can so that we can consider your refinement
in our response to your request. 
Please note, under section 15 of the Official Information Act 1982, any
clarification or amendments made to a request within seven days after the
date it is received, that request may be treated as a new request and the
time limit for the response restarts. 
We look forward to receiving your response.

Ngâ mihi 

  

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health  | Manatû Hauora 

M[3]inistry of Health information releases 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.health.govt.nz/information-r...
3. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Kia ora Spencer,
Please find attached our official letter of transfer.

Ngā mihi 

  

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health  | Manatū Hauora 

M[1]inistry of Health information releases 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Hello Spencer

 

On the 3 December 2025, Health NZ contacted you to refine/clarify your
request for information. See the thread below.

 

On the 8 December 2025, Health NZ received a transfer request from the
Ministry of Health to which you advised to them on the 5 December 2025
that this was your refinement. The refinement suggests a relationship to
the request Health NZ had made from your original request on 3 December
2025.

Can you please confirm by the 11 December 2025 the attached is a
refinement (meant for Health NZ) to the information you original asked for
below or it is a new request.

 

Thank you

 

Anthea 

Government Services

[1][email address]   

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

 

 

------------------- Original Message

show quoted sections

Tçnâ koe Spencer

 

Thank you for your request, asking for the following information under the
Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):

 

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request aggregated
national-level information relating to mental health crisis services,
acute psychiatric care, and suicide-related data spanning 1 January 2015
to the most recent data available in 2025. No personally identifiable
information is sought.

1. Mental health & addiction workforce (2015–2025)

For each year:

1.1 Workforce totals (headcount, employed FTE, funded FTE, vacant FTE)

For:

Psychiatrists
Child & adolescent psychiatrists
Psychiatric registrars
Psychologists
Mental health nurses
Alcohol & drug clinicians
Social workers in mental health
Community Support Workers
Crisis Team (CATT/CAHT) clinicians
Peer support workforce

1.2 Workforce shortages

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

2. Crisis response performance and delays (2018–2025)

For each year:

2.1 Crisis line & CATT response times

Median, average, and 90th percentile response times for:
Crisis phone triage
CATT in-person response
Number of crisis calls per year
Number of unresponded or abandoned crisis calls
Number of crises diverted to Police due to workforce shortages

2.2 Acute presentations

Number of mental health emergency presentations to ED
Number of ED presentations waiting >6 hours
Number requiring overnight ED stays due to lack of beds
Number awaiting psychiatric review >8 hours

3. Inpatient & acute bed capacity (2015–2025)

3.1 Acute mental health units

For each year:

Number of acute mental health beds per region
Funded FTE vs actual staffing
Average occupancy
Number of days occupancy >95%
Number of patients held in ED due to lack of psychiatric beds

3.2 Seclusion & restraint

Annual counts of seclusion episodes
Annual counts of restraint episodes
Any internal reporting linking increased seclusion to staffing shortages

4. Follow-up after suicide attempt or crisis (2018–2025)

Please provide:

% of people seen within 48 hours after a suicide attempt
% seen within 7 days
Number not followed up within 7 days
Any internal risk reports on failure to follow up
Any analysis of barriers to timely community follow-up (workforce, risk,
access)

If the data is not collected nationally, please confirm.

5. Suicidology — aggregated data only (2015–2025)

For each year:

5.1 Suicide deaths

Total suicide deaths (annual)
Age-banded totals (0–14, 15–24, 25–44, 45–64, 65+)
Regional breakdown
Ethnicity breakdown (Mâori, Pacific, European/Other, Asian)

5.2 Self-harm & suicide attempts

Number of ED presentations for self-harm
Number of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm
Number of repeat self-harm presentations
Number of repeat self-harm hospitalisations

5.3 Contact with services before suicide (aggregated only)

Number and % of suicide deaths where the person had contact with:
Mental health services in previous 7 days
Mental health services in previous 30 days
ED in previous 30 days
Primary care in previous 30 days

If no such analysis exists, please confirm.

6. Service strain & internal risk assessments (2018–2025)

Please provide any internal reports or dashboards relating to:

Threats to patient safety from understaffed crisis teams
ED overcrowding impacting psychiatric patients
Shortages of psychiatrists or psychologists
Delayed FSAs (First Specialist Appointments) for acute mental health
Closure or reduction of mental health units
Te Whatu Ora internal “red status” or “unsafe staffing” alerts
Any risk assessments linking workforce shortages to harm, suicide risk, or
delayed care

If risk assessments do not exist, please confirm.

7. Police involvement due to lack of mental health capacity

For each year 2018–2025:
Number of mental health crisis events handled primarily by Police
Number of mental health crises where Police transported patients due to
lack of
clinical availability
Number of Section 109 Mental Health Act detentions
Any internal analysis on Police substitution for clinical crisis care

8. Waiting times for mental health FSAs (2018–2025)

For each year:
Median wait time to first specialist assessment
% of urgent referrals seen within target time
% waiting >8 weeks, >12 weeks, >6 months
Any regional variation reports

9. Youth & adolescent mental health (2015–2025)

For each year:
FTE of child & adolescent psychiatrists
FTE of psychologists working with 0–17
Number of youth acute presentations
Number of youth self-harm hospitalisations
Wait times for CAMHS FSAs (median + 90th percentile)
Any reports identifying rising acuity or risk levels

10. Ministerial briefings (2020–2025)

Please provide:

A list of all briefings, memos, and reports relating to:
Crisis services
Suicide trends
Workforce degradation
ED mental health pressures
Youth suicide risk
And the first five documents in each category.

If releasing full reports triggers s18(f), the list alone is sufficient.

11. Format

Please provide all datasets in Excel or CSV.
Documents in PDF are acceptable.
If any information is held by another agency, please transfer under s14
OIA.

 

This email is to let you know that Health NZ needs more time to make a
decision on your request. Due to annual leave been HNZ has been unable to
advise on essential decisions relevant to your response until recently.

 

The OIA requires that we advise you of our decision on your request no
later than 20 working days after the day we received your request.
Unfortunately, it will not be possible to meet that time limit and we are
therefore writing to notify you of an extension of the time to make our
decision, to 3 February 2026 .

 

This extension is required because the consultations necessary to make a
decision on the request are such that a proper response cannot reasonably
be made within the original time limit.

 

If you have any questions, please contact us
at [1][email address] 

 

If you are not happy with this extension, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available
at [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.

 

Ngâ mihi

Tane   

 

Health NZ / Te Whatu Ora / Government Services (OIA) 
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

 

Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
delete this message

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/

Kia ora, Spencer
 
Thank you for your request for information on 2 December 2025. I
apologise for the delay in providing our response. The time taken is not
what we aspire to. This is something we are working to get on top of as
we deal with a high volume of requests and the understandably high public
interest in our work.  
 
Please find attached our response to your request.
 
If you have any questions, please get in touch at
[1][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 [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
 
Ngā mihi, 
 
Anthea
 
Government Services
[3][email address]   

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
 
 
 
Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
delete this message

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. file:///tmp/
3. mailto:[email address]

Kia ora Spencer,
 
Thank you for your request for information, transferred on 26 November
2025 from the Ministry of Health to Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora,
asking for information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA).
 
 
Please find attached our response to your request. I apologise for the
delay in providing the response. The time taken is not what we aspire to.
This is something we are working to get on top of as we deal with a high
volume of requests and the understandably high public interest in our
work.
 
If you have any questions, you can contact us
at [1][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 [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
 
Ngā mihi, 
 
Sacha
Government Services (OIA)
[3][email address]    

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
delete this message

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
3. mailto:[email address]

Kia ora Spencer,
 
Thank you for your request of 16 January 2026 for the following
information:
 

"Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request copies of existing
documents held by the Ministry of Health that describe how ethical
oversight and informed-consent governance are addressed for public
vaccination programmes, where those programmes are not conducted as
research and are therefore outside the remit of Health and Disability
Ethics Committees.

Specifically, please provide any documents (including but not limited to
policies, guidance, briefing papers, legal interpretations, or internal
frameworks) that address one or more of the following:

1. Governance responsibility

Documents that identify which body or bodies are responsible for ethical
oversight of informed consent in the context of public vaccination
programmes (as distinct from research studies).

2. Ethical framework outside HDEC scope

Any guidance or analysis explaining how ethical considerations are
assessed, assured, or reviewed for vaccination programmes that do not
require HDEC approval.

3. Interface with consent obligations

Documents describing how ethical considerations are integrated with
informed-consent requirements under:

• the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights; and/or
• Medicines Act–related guidance or interpretations.

4. Reviews or acknowledgements of governance boundaries

Any internal reviews, gap analyses, or briefing material that discuss the
absence of ethics-committee oversight for programme-based vaccination, or
that explain how this is mitigated or addressed in practice."

 
Upon further clarification, Health NZ has mistakenly accepted a full
transfer of this request. We have since been advised your request asks for
information which is more closely aligned with the functions of the
Ministry of Health.  
For this reason, Health New Zealand has decided to transfer your request
in full to the Ministry of Health under section 14(b)(ii) of the Official
Information Act (OIA).
You can expect a response from in due course.
 
Under section 28(3) of the OIA you have the right to ask the Ombudsman
to review any decisions made under this request. 
The Ombudsman may be contacted
by email at: [1][email address] or by calling 0800 802 602. 
If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch.  
 
Ngā mihi  
 

 

Pamela

Government Services (OIA)

[2][email address]

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
delete this message

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]

 

Kia ora Spencer,

  

Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act) on 11 February 2026. You requested:

 

“Copies of existing documents held by the Ministry of Health that describe
how ethical oversight and informed-consent governance are addressed for
public vaccination programmes, where those programmes are not conducted as
research and are therefore outside the remit of Health and Disability
Ethics Committees.

 

Specifically, please provide any documents (including but not limited to
policies, guidance, briefing papers, legal interpretations, or internal
frameworks) that address one or more of the following:

 

1. Governance responsibility

 

Documents that identify which body or bodies are responsible for ethical
oversight of informed consent in the context of public vaccination
programmes (as distinct from research studies).

 

2. Ethical framework outside HDEC scope

 

Any guidance or analysis explaining how ethical considerations are
assessed, assured, or reviewed for vaccination programmes that do not
require HDEC approval.

 

3. Interface with consent obligations

 

Documents describing how ethical considerations are integrated with
informed-consent requirements under:

 

• the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights; and/or

• Medicines Act–related guidance or interpretations.

 

4. Reviews or acknowledgements of governance boundaries

 

Any internal reviews, gap analyses, or briefing material that discuss the
absence of ethics-committee oversight for programme-based vaccination, or
that explain how this is mitigated or addressed in practice.”
 

The reference number for your request is H2026078663. We will endeavour to
respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than
11 March 2026 being 20 working days after the day your request was
received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

 

If you have any queries regarding your request, please feel free to
contact the OIA Services Team on [1][email address]. If any
additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request,
please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into
account. 

 

Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [2][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.

 

 

Ngâ mihi, 
 
OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health | Manatû Hauora

 

M[3]inistry of Health information releases

 

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Kia ora Spencer,
Thank you for your correspondence. Confirming that your additional
questions have been noted and a response will be provided under the
reference number H2026078663.
Ngā mihi,

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: SPENCER JONES <[FOI #32941 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 12 February 2026 14:07
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Acknowledgement of your request for official information,
ref: H2026078663 CRM:0489799
 
Dear OIA Requests,

Kia ora,

Thank you for your response dated 4 February 2026 (Ref: HNZ00105191) and
for providing Appendix One and associated links.

I seek clarification on four narrow technical points to ensure I correctly
understand what is and is not held nationally. This is not a request for
broad new collation.

1️⃣ Psychiatric Registrar Vacancy Data

Appendix One provides contracted FTE for psychiatric registrars but does
not appear to include vacant FTE or vacancy rate calculations for this
group.

• Please confirm whether vacant FTE and/or vacancy rate data for
psychiatric registrars exists in any national dataset.
• If it exists, please provide the vacancy FTE and vacancy rate figures
for the same reporting periods already supplied.
• If it does not exist, please confirm this under section 18(e).

2️⃣ District Vacancy Reporting Gaps

Appendix One notes that vacancy data is unavailable from certain districts
for some periods.

• Please confirm which districts did not report vacancy data and from
which reporting periods.
• Please confirm whether this reflects a system limitation, a reporting
policy change, or local data capture issues.
• If there is a document or internal guidance explaining this reporting
limitation, please provide it.

3️⃣ Pre-2020 National Aggregation via HWIP

Your response notes that historical workforce data from former DHBs is
retained within HWIP and was used in part to respond.

• Please confirm whether HWIP can produce a national aggregate series
(contracted FTE and vacancy rates) for psychiatrists, registrars, and
mental health nurses prior to 2020.
• If such national aggregation exists, please confirm whether it has been
previously produced.
• If no national aggregation exists for crisis workforce categories
pre-2020, please confirm this under section 18(e).

4️⃣ Crisis Response Time Targets (Existence Only)

Your response indicates that response-time data is not held centrally and
refers to the KPI programme.

• Please confirm whether any internal national or district-level policy
document sets a target or benchmark for mobile crisis team response times.
• If such a document exists, please provide the document name and date (no
extraction required).
• If no such targets exist nationally, please confirm this.

These questions are confined to dataset existence, reporting structure,
and document identification, and should not require substantial collation.

Kind regards,
Spencer Jones

show quoted sections