Dear Health New Zealand,

I refer to the news story linked below:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/5355...

I am requesting that provide me with all of the information relative to:

1. How many Waikato Hospital surgeries have been cancelled from the end of September this year to date of you responding to this request

2. How many Waikato Hospital surgeries have been postponed from the end of September this year to date of you responding to this request

3. How many Waikato Hospital parathyroidectomy surgeries were cancelled in the quarter ending September 2024

4. How many Waikato Hospital parathyroidectomy surgeries were postponed in the quarter ending September 2024

4. How many Waikato Hospital parathyroidectomy surgeries were cancelled in the quarter ending June 2024

5. How many Waikato Hospital parathyroidectomy surgeries were postponed in the quarter ending June 2024

6. How many Waikato Hospital parathyroidectomy surgeries were cancelled in the quarter ending March 2024

7. How many Waikato Hospital parathyroidectomy surgeries were postponed in the quarter ending March 2024

8. On or before the abovementioned RNZ news story was published (on 4 December 2024) were letters, e-mails or texts sent to all of the abovementioned, negatively affected, patients advising them that their parathyroidectomy had been cancelled or postponed. If not, why not?

9. What are the - full and frank explanation - causes and reasons for the abovementioned cancellations and postponements? Please provide supporting documentary evidence with your response where this is available.

10. Is there a national surgery waiting list in New Zealand? If not, why not?

11. Why is it the case that some patients are sent to other hospitals - e.g. patients in the Waikato region waiting for surgeries to be done at Hamilton hospital - to get their surgeries done? And, what criteria are used to make these transfer decisions? Please provide supporting documentary evidence with your response where this is available.

12. Given that a parathyroidectomy operation takes around 1 hour to complete, and that this does not therefore take a significant amount of resources to get done in fair and reasonable time, how many patients are currently on the Waikato Hospital waiting list for parathyroidectomy surgery? And, what is the longest time that a patient or patients, currently still on a waiting list, has or have been waiting to receive written confirmation from Waikato Hospital of their parathyroidectomy surgery date?

13. What responsibility will Health NZ and/or Waikato Hospital take if any parathyroidectomy waiting list patient has worsening symptoms, leading to (the medically peer reviewed and well documented risk of) stroke, heart-attack, coma or death, or, any other long-term, serious, harm caused by cancellation or postponement of their surgery?

14. Why are e-mails to Waikato Hospital's "complaints" department not responded to in fair and reasonable time, with not even an acknowledgement of receipt and an undertaking to investigate and respond in fair and reasonable time sent to the complaint?

15. Why are phone calls to Waikato Hospitals "complaints" department not responded to by a human being, but instead answered by a tape-recorded voice that suggests complainants leave a message, only to have that message or messages ignored?

Yours faithfully,

M.R.M.