19 May 2026
Spencer Jones
[FYI request #32941 email]
Tēnā koe Spencer
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00202950
Thank you for your email on 20 April 2026, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health
NZ) for information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA). Your original request is
attached as
Appendix One.
Response
We note your request is substantively similar to your previous request (HNZ00201647 refers).
We have considered your clarification for National Office level documents and undertaken further
enquiries with relevant National Office teams.
Fol owing these enquiries, we can confirm that Health NZ does not maintain centrally held or
systematical y indexed documentation at a National Office level that corresponds to the specific
categories described in your request. Relevant information, where it exists, is not captured as
identifiable documents, but is instead embedded across a wide range of document types.
This is consistent with our previous response (HNZ00201647 refers).
While limiting the scope to National Office reduces the organisational footprint, it does not resolve
the core issue that:
• the information sought is defined by subject matter and interpretation, rather than by
identifiable or retrievable documents; and
• identifying material within scope would require extensive manual review and interpretation
across a large volume of documents to determine whether they contain relevant discussion.
As a result, your request requires substantial collation and research.
Accordingly, we confirm our original decision to refuse parts 2 and 3 of your request under section
18(f) of the OIA, as the information requested cannot be made available without substantial
collation or research.
Additionally, Health NZ has not identified any risk registers or risk assessments in scope of your
request. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the
information requested is not held.
To assist you as per section 13 of the OIA, we have identified some publicly available material
related to the themes you have requested. This information may help to inform any further requests
you wish to make. Please refer to the following:
Workforce pressures in crisis of acute mental health services:
•
Mental Health & Addiction Workforce Plan 2024–2027
Acknowledges workforce shortages, recruitment and retention chal enges, and pressure
across specialist and acute services:
Mental health and addiction workforce plan: 2024–
2027 (2025 refresh)
•
Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Development
Sets out workforce strengthening activities and recognises ongoing pressure on workforce
capacity:
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-professionals/health-workforce-
development/mental-health-and-addiction
Service demand exceeding capacity and Risks to patient safety or service delivery arising from
staffing levels
•
Mental Health and Addiction – Services and Programmes
Describes national delivery responsibilities and the scale of demand across mental health
and addiction services.
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/health-services-and-programmes/mental-health-and-
addiction
•
Mental Health and Addiction Overview
Publicly states that while access has increased,
“demand for services continues to grow,
resulting in services being under significant pressure.” https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Proactive-releases/Mental-Health-and-
Addiction-Overview-November-2023.pdf
Post-
reform workforce and service capacity context
•
Health Workforce Implementation Plan
Describes post-reform workforce stabilisation, prioritisation, and the absence of a single
consolidated post-reform capacity assessment.
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Workforce/Health-Workforce-
Implementation-Plan.pdf
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
Danielle Coe
Manager Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Appendix One
Thank you for your response (Ref: HNZ00201647) to my request regarding mental health crisis
services workforce and related risk and planning documentation.
I note your position that parts of the request were refused under section 18(f) due to the distributed
and embedded nature of the information across Health NZ systems. To assist retrieval and avoid
substantial collation, I am refining my request to target specific, identifiable record classes.
Please provide copies of the following documents, limited to the period 1 January 2022 – 31
December 2024:
National-Level Risk Registers
1. Any national-level enterprise risk registers or risk summaries (including extracts) that
include reference to:
a. mental health crisis services, or
b. workforce sufficiency in acute or crisis mental health services, or
c. service capacity or escalation pressure in mental health crisis response
This includes:
•
National Office enterprise risk registers
•
Board or executive-level risk summaries
•
Any formally maintained risk logs or dashboards used for governance or
oversight
National Office Briefings
2. Any briefings, aide-memoire, or internal reports produced by or for:
a. National Office mental health leadership, or executive or governance-level
recipients that include discussion of:
b. workforce pressures in crisis or acute mental health services
c. service demand exceeding capacity
d. risks to patient safety or service delivery arising from staffing levels
e. Post-Reform Workforce or Service Capacity Assessments
3. Any National Office-level documents created following the establishment of Health New
Zealand that:
a. assess workforce adequacy in mental health crisis services, or
b. identify risks arising from regional variation in service capacity, or
c. evaluate whether workforce planning required adjustment post-centralisation
Clarification of Scope
To assist processing and avoid unnecessary collation:
This request is limited to National Office-held records only
It does not require a search of all regional or legacy DHB systems
It is limited to formal documents (e.g., risk registers, briefings, reports), not emails or informal
communications
If full documents cannot be provided, relevant extracts are sufficient
If Information is Refused
If any part of this request is refused under section 18(f) or section 18(g), please confirm:
The specific systems or repositories searched
The business units consulted
Whether any responsive documents exist but were excluded due to collation burden
Whether any subset of the requested material could be provided with further refinement
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wel ington 6140, New Zealand
