OIA Response HNZ00104916 FINAL.pdf

11 February 2026
Elspeth Baker-Vevers
[FYI request #33050 email]
Tēnā koe Elspeth
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00104916
Thank you for your email on 28 November 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
(Health NZ) for the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
“I’m making this Official Information Act request as part of ADHDInquiryNZ, a grassroots,
unfunded, and non-partisan volunteer initiative supporting a public petition calling for a
Parliamentary inquiry into systemic harm to people with ADHD in Aotearoa. This request
focuses on information held by your agency to help identify how ADHD is currently
recognised across national health systems. The information gathered from this and related
requests wil help identify patterns across agencies and contribute to evidence provided to
the Petitions Committee when the petition period closes. I appreciate the time involved in
OIA responses.
Please treat this as a request for official information under the OIA. I am requesting the
specific information listed below. I understand the agency’s obligation to assist under s 13
and that a decision should be made within 20 working days of receipt (transfer within 10
working days). If any part of this request requires clarification, please let me know no later
than 5 working days from receipt. If an extension under s 15A is needed, please state the
reason and duration. This request is confined to information held by Te Whatu Ora; please
do not transfer for commentary.
Timeframe:
This request covers the period from 1 July 2022 (when Te Whatu Ora was established) to
the date this request is received.
Format:
Where datasets, tables, or modelling outputs are provided, please supply them in machine-
readable format (CSV or original spreadsheet file) with accompanying data dictionaries or
field definitions.
Scope clarification:
I am not seeking internal email chains, drafts, or personal information about individuals
unless they are the only record of the substantive information described.
Please provide:
1. Service Settings
Any operational policies, service specifications, referral pathways, or clinical pathways
(2022–present) relating to ADHD assessment, initiation, prescribing, shared care, follow-up,
or discharge across:
-primary care
-secondary services
-specialist/tertiary services
-mental health services (youth and adult)
2. Workforce Roles and Pathway Clarity
Any documents clarifying the respective roles of psychiatrists, paediatricians, psychologists,

GPs, nurse practitioners, or any other professionals in ADHD assessment and
management since 2022.

3. Data and Monitoring
Any indicators, measures, reporting frameworks, audits, dashboards, or monitoring tools
that explicitly track ADHD-related:
-assessment
-treatment or prescribing
-access and wait times
-follow-up
-outcomes
-unmet need

If ADHD is recorded under broader categories (e.g., mental health, neurodevelopmental
disorder), please specify which.

If no ADHD-specific indicators exist, please confirm this.

4. Data Visibility in National Collections
Please confirm whether Te Whatu Ora currently captures ADHD diagnosis data within any
national or regional collections, including but not limited to:
-NMDS
-PRIMHD
-primary care data hubs
-any Te Whatu Ora data warehouse or analytic environment

Please also state from what date this has been possible.

5. IDI and Population Analytics
Given recent IDI research demonstrating clear health-outcome disparities for
neurodivergent youth, please provide any documents showing whether Te Whatu Ora has:
a. considered
b. commissioned
c. contributed to, or
d. internal y discussed

any ADHD-specific population-level analysis or monitoring using the IDI or internal linked
datasets since July 2022.

6. Equity, Gaps, and Access Issues
Any correspondence, briefings, or analysis since 2022 that identifies:
-access gaps
-wait time inequities
-regional inconsistencies
-cultural-safety concerns
-workforce or service limitations
-supply issues relating to ADHD medicines, assessment capacity, or follow-up
-disparities experienced by Māori, Pacific, or Rainbow+/Takatāpui populations

Please include any actions taken or proposed.

7. Public-Facing Materials
Any public-facing ADHD-related resources, web content, fact sheets, or guidance produced
or funded by Te Whatu Ora since 2022.

If none exist, please confirm this.

If information is not held
If Te Whatu Ora does not hold some or all of the information requested, that absence itself
helps clarify how ADHD is currently tracked and managed across the system. Identifying
such gaps is part of building the evidence base for an informed, coordinated response.

Please confirm if the information is not held, and include any documents or correspondence
that record a decision not to collect or monitor ADHD-related information. If applicable,
please also indicate how related matters are categorised (for example, under mental health,
disability, or neurodevelopmental conditions).”

On the 10 December 2025, we contacted you advising that, under section 18(A)(2) of the OIA, we
would merge your three OIA requests about ADHD. However, on 12 December 2025, you advised
that you wanted these addressed separately.

Response

For the sake of clarity, I wil  address each question in turn.

1.  Service Settings
Any operational policies, service specifications, referral pathways, or clinical pathways
(2022–present) relating to ADHD assessment, initiation, prescribing, shared care, follow-up,
or discharge across:
-primary care
-secondary services
-specialist/tertiary services
-mental health services (youth and adult)

The Ministry assigned the national Care Pathways programme responsibility for updating the
guidance for General Practitioners held on HealthPathways with the relevant information about the
planned ADHD prescribing rules.

HealthPathways is an online resource that provides concise, local y-tailored clinical guidance for
health professionals to use at point of care. Community HealthPathways are written assuming
medical knowledge with the primary audience of general practitioners, and is freely available to
primary care clinicians nationwide, with nine local platforms that host pathways that reflect local
health system nuances.

The scope of the HealthPathways programme team is to work collaboratively with Subject Matter
Experts (SME) to document the national consensus guidance and agreed local pathways of care.
The HealthPathways team are not responsible for the risk analysis, implementation planning,
service delivery model design or workforce training in relation to the introduction of new guidelines.
In response, HealthPathways are planning:
•  Updated ADHD in Adults HealthPathway to be published across the nine local
HealthPathway sites by 1 February 2026. This wil  reflect the prescribing rule changes,
with links to the National Consensus Clinical Framework and recommended guidelines and
training opportunities.
•  A national webinar is scheduled for 17 February 2026 to promote the updated
HealthPathway and raise awareness of RNZCGP endorsed training opportunities. Co-
presenters are our national SME: Dr David Codyre, and RNZCGP Medical Director Dr
Prabani Wood.

In reference to your note to “clinical pathways (2022–present) relating to ADHD assessment,
initiation, prescribing, shared care, follow-up, or discharge process”, please refer to Appendix
One, which sets out our decision on the release of documents within scope of your request. The
documents able to be released are attached as Appendix Two.

We have provided you the localised versions of ADHD-related HealthPathways. These involve the
following information in which we have specified in brackets in Appendix One where each
document is from.

•  ADHD in Adults
•  ADHD in Children and Young People
•  ADHD Medications for Children and Youth

The documents/information are included with the following areas. However, please note that
Northland did not take the ADHD in Children and Youth-Ongoing Care pathway live until after your
request was made thus it is out of scope for your OIA request.

•  Auckland
•  Canterbury
•  Hawke’s Bay
•  Midland
•  Nelson Marlbororugh
•  Northland
•  Southern
•  Whanganui-MidCentral

2. Workforce Roles and Pathway Clarity
Any documents clarifying the respective roles of psychiatrists, paediatricians, psychologists,
GPs, nurse practitioners, or any other professionals in ADHD assessment and
management since 2022.

Health NZ does not hold this information at a national-level and would be held at a district-level.
For instance, in a particular district there may be arrangements about which waiting list children go
on to – and these can vary from the paediatric service, the Child Development Team/Service or a
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

Looking into this information, it appears that your request for this information is very broad, and
substantial manual research and collation would be required to bring together all documents within
scope of your request. As such, I refuse your request under section 18(f) of the OIA. 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.

3. Data and Monitoring
Any indicators, measures, reporting frameworks, audits, dashboards, or monitoring tools
that explicitly track ADHD-related:
-assessment
-treatment or prescribing
-access and wait times
-follow-up
-outcomes
-unmet need

If ADHD is recorded under broader categories (e.g., mental health, neurodevelopmental
disorder), please specify which.

If no ADHD-specific indicators exist, please confirm this.

Your request for this information is very broad. Generally, referrals for ADHD diagnosis in New
Zealand are initiated by General Practitioners and directed to specialists such as Paediatricians,
Psychiatrists (Child and Adolescent or Adult), Neurologists, or Clinical Psychologists. This referral

information is not coded nationally for reporting purposes. Only a limited number of Districts collect
or report such data.

Health New Zealand also does not receive national level data on diagnoses made by primary care
providers, such as GPs, and some people may be diagnosed with ADHD in primary care settings.
Many individuals receive an ADHD diagnosis through private specialists and / or hospital outpatient
services. Health NZ does not receive records from private clinical specialists such as psychiatrists,
and Health NZ’s national dataset related to publicly funded outpatient services does not include
diagnostic information. Diagnoses are typically recorded in local hospital patient management
systems and individual patient files.

Substantial manual research and collation would be required to bring together all documents within
scope of your request. As such, I refuse your request under section 18(f) of the OIA. 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.

4. Data Visibility in National Collections
Please confirm whether Te Whatu Ora currently captures ADHD diagnosis data within any
national or regional collections, including but not limited to:
-NMDS
-PRIMHD
-primary care data hubs
-any Te Whatu Ora data warehouse or analytic environment

Please also state from what date this has been possible.

As above, there is no national level ADHD diagnostic data which records al  ADHD diagnoses in
New Zealand. There is some national data, but this does not include all diagnoses, as these
national data collections are specific to care settings rather than specific health conditions. Most
people would receive their ADHD diagnoses in hospital outpatient, primary care and / or private
specialist settings, and national clinically coded data does not exist for these settings.

Information about people who were admitted to hospital for treatment is collated into the National
Minimum Dataset (NMDS). NMDS is coded using the International Statistical Classification of
Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). At present Health NZ uses the 12th edition of the
Australian Modification of the 10th version: ICD-10-AM v12.

This classification codes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) differently depending on
whether hyperactivity is mentioned.  Where hyperactivity is mentioned, it is coded to ‘Disturbance
of activity and attention’ (ICD-10-AM code F90.0), otherwise it is coded to ‘Other specified
behavioural and emotional disorders with onset usual y occurring in childhood and adolescence’
(ICD-10-AM code F98.8).  Both these codes may have other conditions coded to them in addition
to ADHD.  As such, we cannot specifically identify hospitalisations which include ADHD.

Health NZ holds national information about medications dispensed in the Pharmaceutical
Collection (Pharms), and prescription information in the Medicines Data Repository (MDR). Neither
MDR nor Pharms record the reason why a medication is prescribed. While some medications are
commonly used to treat ADHD, their presence in dispensing records does not confirm that the
person has ADHD. Information about the number of people dispensed medications is available
online from the Pharmaceutical Data Web tool:
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-professionals/data-and-statistics/pharmaceutical/data-
web-tool.

The National Non-Admitted Patient Collection (NNPAC) collates national data for publicly funded
outpatient care, including specialist outpatient appointments and Emergency Department (ED)
data. The specialist outpatient appointment data is not clinically coded, and is therefore not specific

enough to identify people whose appointment related to ADHD, or who were seen for ADHD
diagnoses. The ED data does include some diagnostic data, using the Systematized Nomenclature
of Medicine – Clinical Terminology (SNOMED). Although there are SNOMED terms specific to
ADHD, these are not used in an ED setting.

The Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data (PRIMHD) includes diagnosis
information from specialist mental health and addiction services, coded using both ICD and the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). This is the most
direct source of ADHD diagnosis data among these collections, but it only covers diagnoses
(classifications) made in specialist mental health and addiction settings. As ADHD is not commonly
diagnosed nor treated in a specialist mental health or addiction setting, diagnosis data for this
condition is limited in PRIMHD, and has known significant gaps in data quality.

5. IDI and Population Analytics
Given recent IDI research demonstrating clear health-outcome disparities for
neurodivergent youth, please provide any documents showing whether Te Whatu Ora has:
a. considered
b. commissioned
c. contributed to, or
d. internal y discussed

any ADHD-specific population-level analysis or monitoring using the IDI or internal linked
datasets since July 2022.

Please note that the OIA does not require an agency to form an opinion or create new
information to answer a request. This part of your request is therefore refused under section 18(g)
of the OIA.

While we do not hold this information, I recommend that you contact the Ministry of Health |
Manatū Hauora (the Ministry), who do most of the health work in IDI, and Stats NZ | Tatauranga
Aotearoa. You can email the Ministry at [email address] and you can email Stats NZ at
[email address].

6. Equity, Gaps, and Access Issues
Any correspondence, briefings, or analysis since 2022 that identifies:
-access gaps
-wait time inequities
-regional inconsistencies
-cultural-safety concerns
-workforce or service limitations
-supply issues relating to ADHD medicines, assessment capacity, or follow-up
-disparities experienced by Māori, Pacific, or Rainbow+/Takatāpui populations

Please include any actions taken or proposed.

The newly formed (2025) Mental Health & Addiction National Clinical Network (NCN) wil  begin
related work in 2026. The NCN workplan includes the development of a neurodevelopmental
pathway to establish a national, equitable pathway for individuals with conditions such as Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Foetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder (FASD) by supporting early access, consistency and cross-sector integration
(taken from the NCN workplan). Please refer to the attached excerpt of the National
Neurodevelopmental Pathway provided under section 16(1)(e) of the OIA.

For information regarding supply issues, I direct you to Pharmac who are best suited to address
those matters. You can email them at [email address].

Your request for this information outside of what we have outlined above, is refused under section
18(e) of the OIA as this information does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot
be found.

7. Public-Facing Materials
Any public-facing ADHD-related resources, web content, fact sheets, or guidance produced or
funded by Te Whatu Ora since 2022.

If none exist, please confirm this.

If information is not held
If Te Whatu Ora does not hold some or all of the information requested, that absence itself
helps clarify how ADHD is currently tracked and managed across the system. Identifying such
gaps is part of building the evidence base for an informed, coordinated response.

Please confirm if the information is not held, and include any documents or correspondence
that record a decision not to collect or monitor ADHD-related information. If applicable, please
also indicate how related matters are categorised (for example, under mental health, disability,
or neurodevelopmental conditions).”

You can find information about this on the Health NZ website with the following links:

•  ADHD in adults: https://info.health.nz/health-topics/mental-health/mental-health-
conditions/adhd-in-adults
•  HealthInfo: https://info.health.nz/websites-and-apps/healthinfo
•  ADHD search on Health NZ website:
https://info.health.nz/search?q=ADHD&size=n_1000_n

The New Zealand Health Survey publishes information about ADHD in children (aged up to 15
years). This information is online from: https://www.health.govt.nz/statistics-research/surveys/new-
zealand-health-survey.

Please note that the funding allocation sits with the Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora (the
Ministry) and Pharmac who has commissioned funding on this matter. Please refer to our response
to part 1 of this OIA surrounding HealthPathways which addresses some of the public-facing
ADHD-related resources query you have requested in part 7.

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.

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 (OIAs) – Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

Appendix One

#
Date
Title
Decision on release
1.    N/A
(3D) ADHD in Adults -
Released in full.
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
2.    N/A
(3D) ADHD in Children and Released in full.
Young People -
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
3.    N/A
(3D) ADHD Medications for Released in full.
Children and Youth -
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
4.    N/A
(Auckland) ADHD in Adults Released in full.
- Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
5.    N/A
(Auckland) ADHD in
Released in full.
Children and Young
People - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
6.    N/A
(Auckland) ADHD
Released in full.
Medications for Children
and Youth - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
7.    N/A
(Canterbury) ADHD in
Released in full.
Adults - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
8.    N/A
(Canterbury) ADHD in
Released in full.
Children and Young
People - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
9.    N/A
(Canterbury) ADHD
Released in full.
Medications for Children
and Youth - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
10.   N/A
(Hawke’s Bay) ADHD in
Released in full.
Adults - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
11.   N/A
(Hawke’s Bay) ADHD in
Released in full.
Children and Young
People - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
12.   N/A
(Hawke’s Bay) ADHD
Released in full.
Medications for Children
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wel ington 6140, New Zealand

and Youth - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
13.   N/A
(Midland) ADHD in Adults - Released in full.
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
14.   N/A
(Midland) ADHD in
Released in full.
Children and Young
People - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
15.   N/A
(Midland) ADHD
Released in full.
Medications for Children
and Youth - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
16.   N/A
(Nelson Marlborough)
Released in full.
ADHD in Adults -
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
17.   N/A
(Nelson Marlborough)
Released in full.
ADHD in Children and
Young People -
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
18.   N/A
(Nelson Marlborough)
Released in full.
ADHD Medications for
Children and Youth -
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
19.   N/A
(Southern) ADHD in Adults Released in full.
- Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
20.   N/A
(Southern) ADHD in
Released in full.
Children and Young
People - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
21.   N/A
(Southern) ADHD
Released in full.
Medications for Children
and Youth - Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
22.   N/A
(Whanganui-MidCentral)  Released in full.
ADHD in Adults -
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
23.   N/A
(Whanganui-MidCentral)  Released in full.
ADHD in Children and
Young People -
Community

HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
24.   N/A
(Whanganui-MidCentral)  Released in full.
ADHD Medications for
Children and Youth -
Community
HealthPathways SNZ Dev
Team
25.   N/A
National
Excerpt released under section 16(1)(e)
Neurodevelopmental
of the OIA.
Pathway