8 May 2026
Hannah H
[FYI request #34402 email]
Tēnā koe Hannah
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00202624
Thank you for your request for information, which was partially transferred from the Of ice of Hon
Simeon Brown to Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) on 13 April 2026, asking for the
following under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1. What national policies, frameworks, or directives are currently in place to support
healthcare staff (including doctors and nurses) to raise concerns or provide feedback?
2. What evidence, research, or expert advice has informed the development of these
policies?
3. How is the effectiveness of “speak up” systems measured at a national level?
Please include any key performance indicators, staff survey measures, or reporting
frameworks used.
4. What mechanisms exist to ensure that concerns raised by staff result in observable
action or system-level change?
5. What protections are in place nationally to prevent retaliation or negative career impact
for staff who raise concerns?
7. Are there any identified gaps, risks, or challenges in current “speak up” systems that
have been raised at a national level?
You wil receive a response to item six of your request in due course.
Response
For the sake of clarity, I wil address each question in turn.
1. What national policies, frameworks, or directives are currently in place to support
healthcare staff (including doctors and nurses) to raise concerns or provide feedback?
Health NZ has a number of pathways for kaimahi wishing to raise concerns or provide feedback
through both formal and informal channels. This includes:
• The Protected Disclosure Policy, which sets out the processes for disclosing serious
wrongdoing, in accordance with the Protected Disclosures (Protection of
Whistleblowers) Act 2022. It assists our people when making a protected disclosure
and ensures they receive support during the process.
• Health NZ’s has an 0800 Health Integrity Line. This is a national whistleblowing line
available to anyone working at Health NZ, allowing anonymous reporting to an
independent third party.
• Information on speaking up is provided on organisational intranet (Te Haerenga) and
has been recently updated to align with new policies and Public Service Commission
(PSC) guidance.
• Our Health and Safety policy provides pathways for staff to raise concerns, about
matters affecting staff, including both physical and psychosocial concerns. Al staff are
able to report hazards through the Health and Safety incident reporting software or via
their local Health and Safety Representative (HSR), their manager or directly to the
Health and Safety Team in their area. Staff can also raise issues in partnership with
HSRs via Provisional Improvement Notices (PINs) or directly with WorkSafe New
Zealand, if they feel concerns are not adequately addressed.
• Our National People Policies provide avenues for staff to raise employment-related
concerns, including people management, bullying, or conduct issues through People
and Culture teams. The Code of Conduct includes a specific section on speaking up.
• Respect at Work, an organisational culture programme available to all Health NZ staff,
provides the culture foundation necessary for safe and effective speaking up across the
organisation.
• There is currently no single, national speaking up programme across Health NZ.
Instead, a range of approaches are used across a small number of districts, with
approximately five speaking up type district programmes currently in place.
2. What evidence, research, or expert advice has informed the development of these
policies?
The policies were developed with reference to published guidance from the Office of the
Ombudsman and Public Service Commission, including:
•
Ombudsman guidance for receives of Protected Disclosures:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/sites/default/files/2026-
03/Guidance%20for%20receivers.pdf
• Ombudsman’s guidance on internal policies and procedures:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/sites/default/files/2023-
07/Protected%20disclosures%20-%20internal%20policies%20and%20procedures%20-
%20July%202022_0.pdf
• Public Service Commission (PSC) guidance on Protected Disclosures (Protection of
Whistleblowers) Act 2022:
www.publicservice.govt.nz/publications/protected-
disclosures-act-2022
Health NZ has a process for development of policies including due diligence using subject matter
experts such as clinical, cultural, disability and legal expertise, followed by engagement with unions
and the final step is to undertake staf consultation prior to finalisation and implementation of
policies.
Over the last two years we have undertaken this process for several people policies including
Code of Conduct, Health and Safety Policies and Bullying Harassment and Discrimination Policy.
Health NZ has also developed Respect at Work, which is an organisational culture programme
available for all Health NZ staff that provides the culture foundation necessary for safe and
effective speaking up across the organisation. Respect at Work addresses these risks by
promoting shared behavioural expectations, strengthening compassion and civility, and reinforcing
accountability at all levels.
3. How is the effectiveness of “speak up” systems measured at a national level?
Please include any key performance indicators, staff survey measures, or reporting
frameworks used.
Currently there is no singular national speak up programme in Health NZ but a range of
approaches are available across some districts. The organisation is establishing a working group
to explore and identify potential options that could support a national initiative aligned to the PSC
Speaking Up Model Standards.
There have been a range of speak up programmes, some based on the Speaking up for Safety
(SUFS), in the past. The SUFS program helps create a workplace where everyone feels
comfortable speaking up about safety issues. It also teaches staff how to listen to and address
concerns from their colleagues to prevent harm to patients, staff, and visitors.
These have not been evaluated for effectiveness at a national level, hence the work to explore
national response to speak up systems.
4. What mechanisms exist to ensure that concerns raised by staff result in observable
action or system-level change?
Reported psychosocial risk-related incidents are reviewed by Health and Safety Teams, with steps
taken to address issues with appropriate stakeholders, although this may vary across services.
Sensitive or confidentially raised events/incidents are reviewed locally by Health and Safety teams
and staff are supported - all events are reviewed nationally for themes to inform strategic work
plans.
PINs and WorkSafe NZ notifications are reviewed centrally, and comprehensive work plans are
undertaken - these are reviewed by theme to see where strategic work plans can be strengthened
or further targeted to support emerging risks.
Existing programmes provide some feedback for improvement at local levels and in the past
feedback from Staff Pulse surveys have provided opportunities for action and system change.
Work is currently underway on developing new employee voice initiatives that wil further support.
As a result of feedback national initiatives such as Respect at Work and Health Leadership
Development programmes have been established, as well as new or updated development of
policies and practices.
5. What protections are in place nationally to prevent retaliation or negative career impact
for staff who raise concerns?
Protections are outlined in the Protected Disclosure Policy, alongside recently updated intranet
guidance aligned with PSC requirements and the Respect at Work programme.
7. Are there any identified gaps, risks, or challenges in current “speak up” systems that
have been raised at a national level?
As Health NZ is stil a relatively new organisation having been merged from over 20 district or
health entities which had different or varied approaches implemented in the past, it has been
recognised that there is no national programme and that “speak up” is not managed consistently in
districts. The organisation is establishing a working group to explore and identify potential options
that could support a national initiative aligned to the PSC Speaking Up Model Standards.
It had also been identified that there are currently issues with making anonymous reports on
incidents and that all confidential reports must be put through as sensitive. This has been
addressed through enhancements to the new health and safety incident reporting system.
At times it can often be a challenge for staff to see how concerns raised have led to improvements
at a systems level, and that our communication on improvements resulting from reports needs to
be more explicit, where possible.
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
