Requested by: Stuff | Response provided: 11/05/2020
Category: Emergency Care,Hospital Capacity,Public Health Services

I write in response to your Official Information Act request, received by us on 16 March 2020. You noted the following and requested the following information in your initial media request.

I'm writing on behalf of Stuff with a number of questions about your DHB's capacity to deal with COVID-19. These questions are going to all DHBs. While an answer to all of them would be preferable, please feel free to ring me if you are able to get some of the data easily but are having trouble with the other questions. Our deadline is 5pm Tuesday [17 March 2020].

Stuff believes this information is strongly in the public interest at the present moment. As such we believe treating it as an Official Information Act request would be unnecessary, we will be noting which DHBs were not able to get back to us, and would appreciate comment on why the information was not to-hand.

I'm aware you will all have had a request from my colleague Hannah Martin on COVID-19 preparedness. This is a separate request although I appreciate there may be some crossover - hopefully that makes responding somewhat easier.

  1. How many hospital beds are in your DHB?
  2. How many beds are currently available?
  3. How many ICU beds are in your DHB?
  4. How many ICU beds are available?
  5. How many negative pressure isolation rooms do you have?
  6. How many ventilators do you have?
  7. How many non-invasive ventilation machines?
  8. How many ventilators are in-use?
  9. Are any more ventilators being ordered in? If so, how many, and roughly how much dothey cost per-unit?
  10. How many ICU consultants do you have on staff?
  11. How many respiratory physicians do you have on staff?
  12. How many general medicine physicians?
  13. How many anaesthetists do you have on staff?
  14. How many anaesthetic registrars do we have able to intubate a patient?

 

A statement in response to your interest in these matters was provided to you on behalf of the Northern Regional District Health Boards on 17 March 2020. On the same date, we (CM Health) advised you that we could provide some further information, pending your advice. On 19 March, we followed-up to confirm whether you remained interested in the information after your initial deadline had passed (noted above).

On 09 April, you responded and advised:I'd appreciate a response specifically on those questions of whether ventilators are being ordered in, and the cost, but the rest [of the request] can be dropped

 

Our response is attached

 

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