20 May 2026
Nigel Gray
[FYI request #34697 email]
Tēnā koe Nigel
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00203602
Thank you for your email on 13 May 2026, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health
NZ)for the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
1. Confirmation of whether Health NZ holds any national‑
level policy, procedure, guideline,
protocol, framework, or clinical standard relating to:
Medication‑
induced nutrient depletion
Monitoring of nutrient status for people on or discontinuing prescribed medications
Rehabilitation or recovery processes where nutrient depletion has occurred
Informed consent requirements relating to nutrient depletion
Harm‑
minimisation frameworks addressing nutrient depletion risks
This request is solely for confirmation of existence or non‑
existence.
2. If any such national‑
level document exists
Please provide:
the title
the document type (policy, guideline, protocol, etc.)
the date of issue
the issuing group or directorate
a copy of the document
3. If no such national‑
level document exists
Please confirm explicitly that:
“Health NZ holds no national‑
level policy, procedure, guideline, protocol, framework, or
clinical standard covering medication‑
induced nutrient depletion, monitoring, rehabilitation,
informed consent, or harm‑
minimisation.”
Statutory notes
This request does not require collation, research, or analysis.
It is a request for existence or absence, which is a matter of simple confirmation.
Section 18(f) does not apply.
If any part of this information is held by another agency, please transfer that part under
section 14.
Format
Please provide the response in electronic form.
Purpose of this request
This request is made to clarify whether Health NZ has any national‑
level governance in
place for medication‑
induced nutrient depletion and associated clinical responsibilities.
Response
We note that you previously submitted a similar request and follow up request on this topic (ref:
HNZ00201245 & HNZ00201664) and Health NZ communicated a decision on both previous
requests on 12 March & 25 March 2026. We understand that you were unhappy with the decisions
made and that you subsequently made a complaint to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s
investigation remains ongoing, and we expect the Ombudsman’s office wil write to you and Health
NZ on this matter in due course.
Your current request focusses on
national-
level policies, procedures, guidelines, protocols,
frameworks, or clinical standards relating to Medication-induced nutrient depletion.
Regarding
Questions 1 & 3, Health NZ can confirm we do not hold
national-level policies,
procedures, guidelines, protocols or clinical standards specifically about medication-induced
nutrient depletion. As such, your request for national level documentation on medication-induced
nutrient depletion is refused under section 18(g).
However, as noted in our previous response there are many adverse effects of medicines including
nutrient depletion and how this is managed is not captured in one place and procedure. We can
further contextualise this by providing examples of specific types of documents that relevant
information may be captured within:
•
files relating to specific medications held by Health NZ
•
training material for clinical staff
•
procedure documentation for non-clinical hospital staff
•
public health documents
•
email correspondence sent to/ from or between Health NZ staff
In order to identify all relevant information manual searches for key words within all potentially
relevant databases would need to be conducted. Each potentially relevant document would need
to be extracted and reviewed to consider if any of the content was in scope of the request.
The staff required to undertake this work are responsible for core functions including government
services products, clinical governance, medicines management, patient safety, and operational
delivery. Diverting them to conduct broad searches and evaluative review of material over an
undefined period would unreasonably interfere with Health NZ’s operations. As
previously advised, this would be refused under section 18(f) of the OIA, as it requires substantial
collation and research.
Question 2 is refused under section 18(e), as previously advised, as the document alleged to
contain the information requested does not exist.
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.
Nāku iti noa, nā
pp
Matthew McLay
Manager Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
