Dear Ms Shields

Thank you for your request for official information, received by the
Ministry of Health on [day month year].

You requested:

[I am writing to request an update on the status of the waitlist for
Gender Confirmation Surgery for transgender patients. Namely]: the length
of the waitlist now, progress on resuming surgeries, or, if they have been
resumed, how many patients have had surgery since they have been resumed,
and any communications within and from/to the Ministry about both the
status of the waitlist, discussion about the current surgery rate and
suggestions or plans for increasing the rate, and the process of finding a
surgeon to continue surgeries.
Could you please confirm that the combined waitlist for both male to
female and female to male GRS is at 102 people, and that as it stood in
2016 at 88 combined, it has thus increased by 14 people over two years, at
over three times the current rate of surgeries?

Your request has been received and logged.  You can expect a reply no
later than Tuesday 8 May 2018 as required under the Official Information
Act 1982.

Please note that a working day is defined in the Act as ‘any day of the
week other than a Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day,
Labour Day, the Sovereigns birthday, Waitangi Day and a day in the period
commencing 25 December in any year and ending 15 January in the following
year.

If a large amount of information has been requested or if the Ministry
needs to consult in order to make a decision, we may need to extend this
date (this is provided for in section 15A of the Act).  We will advise you
if such an extension is necessary.

The Ministry's reference number for your request is:H201802672.

Yours sincerely

Zoe Royden
Senior Advisor
Ministerial Services (OIA)
[Ministry of Health request email]  

Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
[1]www.health.govt.nz
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Hi Jennifer,

Attached is a letter of response to your recent OIA request, including
three released documents.

Kind regards,

David

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Dr David St George
Chief Advisor
Office of the Chief Medical Officer
Ministry of Health
Wellington
New Zealand
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Good afternoon Ms. Shields,

Thank you for your email. At this time we are unable to say conclusively
when the email in question will be available for release. The email raises
issues that are part of a larger piece of policy work that the Ministry of
Health is currently working on. Release of the information contained
within the email may interfere with the Minister's ability to consider the
issues it raises. Accordingly, the email will need to be withheld for the
foreseeable future to maintain the constitutional conventions which
protect the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers and officials.

Kind regards,
Andrew Dames.
Ministerial Services (OIA)
[Ministry of Health request email]  

Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
[1]www.health.govt.nz

From:        Jennifer Katherine Shields
<[FYI request #7586 email]>
To:        OIA/LGOIMA requests at Ministry of Health <[Ministry of Health request email]>,
Date:        08/05/2018 11:03 a.m.
Subject:        Re: Response to your Official Information Act Request -
H201802672

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Kia ora David,

Thanks for this information. I understand the need to withhold that email
under 9(2)(f)(iv). Are you able to advise a timeline at which point this
information will no longer be considered sensitive and thus would be able
to be released?

Ngā mihi nui,

Jennifer Katherine Shields

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

Hi Jennifer,

Attached is a letter of response to your recent OIA request, including
three released documents.

Kind regards,

David

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FYI request #7586 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
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If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

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