24 April 2023
Amy Ferguson
[FYI request #22349 email]
Tēnā koe Amy
Your request for Official information, reference: HNZ00015506
Thank you for your email on 14 April 2023, asking for the following which has been
considered under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“I am writing to request information under the Official Information Act 1982, concerning
traumatic brain injury (TBI) admissions to hospitals in New Zealand between the years
1985 and 1987.
Specifically, I would like to request the following data:
•
The total number of TBI admissions to hospitals during the years 1985, 1986, and
1987.
•
The breakdown of TBI admissions by age group (e.g., under 18, 18-24, 25-34,35-
44, 45-54, 55-64, 65 and over) for each year.
•
The breakdown of TBI admissions by gender for each year.
•
The primary causes of TBI (e.g., falls, motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries,
assaults) for each year, with the number of cases for each cause.
•
The severity of TBIs (e.g., mild, moderate, severe) for each year, with the number of
cases for each severity level.
•
The average length of hospital stay for TBI patients for each year.
•
The number of TBI-related fatalities for each year.”
Your request for this information is refused under section 18(e) of the Act, as this information does
not exist, and despite reasonable efforts to locate it, the information requested cannot be found.
The date range was a period where the health boards only had hospital computers for financial
records - the National Minimum Dataset System. NMDS is used for policy formation, performance
monitoring, research and review. It provides statistical information, reports, and analyses about the
trends in the delivery of hospital inpatient and day-patient health services both nationally and on a
provider basis. The current NMDS was introduced in 1999. The original NMDS was implemented in
1993 and backloaded with public hospital information from 1988 therefore we are unable to locate
the requested information which dates back to the years between 1985 and 1987.
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.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Michael Cleary
Acting OIA Manager
Government Services
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz