Number of hours a covid positive patient spends at hospital to be counted in daily numbers
Debbie made this Official Information request to Ministry of Health
The request was partially successful.
From: Debbie
Dear Ministry of Health,
Would you please advise;
1/ the number of hours a covid positive patient has to be in hospital to be counted in the daily tally on numbers hospitalised
2/ the vaccination status of the people who have died of the Delta variant
Yours faithfully,
Debbie
From: OIA Requests
Kia ora,
Thank you for your Official Information Act (the Act) request. This is
an automatic reply to let you know we received it.
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic response, the Ministry is experiencing
significantly higher volumes of queries and requests for information. We
will endeavour to acknowledge your request as soon as possible. Further
information about COVID-19 can be found on our
website: [1]https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
In accordance with the Act, we'll let you know our decision within no more
than 20 working days. If you'd like to calculate the timeframe, you can
use the Ombudsman's online calculator
here: [2]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
If you have any questions while we're processing your request, please let
us know via [3][email address]
Ngā mihi
OIA Services Team
[4]Ministry of Health information releases
[5]Unite against COVID-19
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References
Visible links
1. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
2. http://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&a...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
5. https://covid19.govt.nz/
From: OIA Requests
Kia ora Debbie,
Thank you for your request for official information. The Ministry's
reference number for your request is: H202116381.
As required under the Official Information Act 1982, the Ministry will
endeavour to respond to your request no later than 20 working days after
the day your request was received. If you'd like to calculate the
timeframe, you can use the Ombudsman's online calculator
here: [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic response, the Ministry is experiencing
significantly higher volumes of queries and requests for information. If
we are unable to respond to your request within this time frame, we will
notify you of an extension of that time frame.
If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch.
Ngā mihi
OIA Services
Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
E: [2][email address]
show quoted sections
From: OIA Requests
Tēnā koe Debbie,
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act) to the Ministry of Health (the Ministry) on 18 November 2021 for
information regarding COVID-19 statistics. A response to each part of your
request is outlined below.
1/ the number of hours a covid positive patient has to be in hospital to
be counted in the daily tally on numbers hospitalised
At current case levels, to protect privacy, only limited data is provided
publicly about hospitalisations. Hospitalisation data is supplied by
Northern Region Health Coordination Center at 9:00 am and included in the
COVID-19 Current Case update on the Ministry of Health website after 1pm.
2/ the vaccination status of the people who have died of the Delta variant
Information in scope of this request can be found on our website:
[1]www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/further-information-deaths-associated-covid-19.
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [2][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.
Nga mihi,
OIA Services
Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
E: [email address]
show quoted sections
References
Visible links
1. http://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/new...
2. mailto:[email address]
From: Debbie
Dear OIA Requests,
My question 1/ was not answered.
To make it clearer, I was not wanting private information about hospitalisations.
I was requesting the standard length of time that hospitals use to class a patient as "hospitilised" for the daily Covid case numbers. I assume this is standardised over all NZ health boards?
For example, does a patient have to be at the hospital for 3 hours... or 24 hours to be deemed "hospitalised" in the daily case updates. It is this timeframe itself I am requesting.
Yours sincerely,
Debbie
From: OIA Requests
Kia ora,
Thank you for your Official Information Act (the Act) request. This is
an automatic reply to let you know we received it.
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic response, the Ministry is experiencing
significantly higher volumes of queries and requests for information. We
will endeavour to acknowledge your request as soon as possible. Further
information about COVID-19 can be found on our
website: [1]https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
Please be advised that due dates for requests received from 29 November
2021 onwards take into account the following periods:
Christmas (25 December 2021)
Summer Holidays (25 December to 15 January)
New Year's Day (1 January 2022)
Day after News Year's Day (2 January 2022)
If you'd like to calculate the due date for your request, you can use the
Ombudsman's online calculator here: [2]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
If you have any questions while we're processing your request, please let
us know via [3][email address]
Ngā mihi
OIA Services Team
[4]Ministry of Health information releases
[5]Unite against COVID-19
show quoted sections
References
Visible links
1. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
2. http://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&a...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
5. https://covid19.govt.nz/
Debbie left an annotation ()
Thanks for the note. The Covid case report does not state "admitted" but gives numbers for "hospitalisations."
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
I wanted clarification regarding the definition of a "hospitilsation" for these Covid data reports, as it may be different. Traditionally "hospitlisation" meant being admitted to a bed on a ward, but it is not clear if this is the case for the data provided in the daily Covid reports. Of course the ICU figures will mean these patients have been admitted, but I wanted clarification on the other data.
From: OIA Requests
Tēnā koe Debbie,
Thank you for your follow up email.
If a patient is considered hospitalised this means they have been admitted
to hospital, as opposed to treated as an out-patient. The classification
of hospitalised is not related to the amount of time spent at a hospital.
Some people will be admitted immediately, others might spend several hours
in the emergency room and go home without being admitted.
Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [1][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.
Ngā mihi
OIA Services Team
[2]Ministry of Health information releases
[3]Unite against COVID-19
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Debbie <[FOI #17621 email]>
Sent: Friday, 17 December 2021 13:30
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Your request for information, ref: H202116381
Dear OIA Requests,
My question 1/ was not answered.
To make it clearer, I was not wanting private information about
hospitalisations.
I was requesting the standard length of time that hospitals use to class a
patient as "hospitilised" for the daily Covid case numbers. I assume this
is standardised over all NZ health boards?
For example, does a patient have to be at the hospital for 3 hours... or
24 hours to be deemed "hospitalised" in the daily case updates. It is this
timeframe itself I am requesting.
Yours sincerely,
Debbie
show quoted sections
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Mr Rodgers left an annotation ()
I think the word you are looking for is "admitted". You could spend 6 hours in the emergency department with a sprained wrist and not be considered to be "hospitalised".
But if you were ill enough from a traumatic injury (or covid) to require a bed in a ward then you would be admitted. I doubt that there is a time period — you are either sick enough or you are not sick enough for a ward bed.
Link to this