DHB Office
Braemar Campus
Private Bag 18
Nelson, New Zealand
1 December 2020
D Griffiths
Via Email:
[FYI request #13948 email]
Response to a request for official information
Dear D. Griffiths
Thank you for your request for official information, as transferred from the Ministry of Health to
all DHBs and received 19 October 2020 by Nelson Marlborough Health (NMH)1, followed by the
necessary extension of time 17 November 2020, where you seek the following information:
1. What is the maximum bed occupancy in ICU (intensive care units) across all hospitals in New
Zealand, in total.
NMH response: The DHB hospital reporting system does not electronically capture maximum
bed occupancy. As such, we decline to respond under section 18(g) of the Act in
‘that the
information requested is not held by the department or organisation.
2. What has been the bed occupancy rate (% of beds occupied in ICUs) by week /month (which
ever time period data is available) across the same hospitals in question 1 above, for the
period 15th March 2020 to 1st October 2020.
NMH response: The DHB hospital reporting system does not electronically capture the overall
bed occupancy rate. As such, we decline to respond under section 18(g) of the Act in
‘that the
information requested is not held by the department or organisation.
For your information, Graph One on the following page depicts the bed utilisation rate across all
three shifts as an indication of occupancy across our Intensive Coronary Care Unit (ICCU) and
High Dependency Unit (HDU) 16 beds for the specified time-frame.
1 Nelson Marlborough District Health Board
GRAPH ONE
Bed Utilisation
120.00%
100.00%
80.00%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
15/03/2020
15/04/2020
15/05/2020
15/06/2020
15/07/2020
15/08/2020
15/09/2020
Nelson ICCU
Wairau HDU
This response has been provided under the Official Information Act 1982. You have the right to
seek an investigation by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information about how to make a
complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or free phone 0800 802 602.
If you have any questions about this decision please feel free to email our OIA Coordinator
[email address] I trust that this information meets your requirements. NMH, like
other agencies across the state sector, supports the open disclosure of information to assist the
public’s understanding of how we are delivering publicly-funded healthcare. This includes the
proactive publication of anonymised Official Information Act responses on our website from 10
working days after they have been released. If you feel that there are good reasons why your
response should not be made publicly available, we will be happy to consider.
Yours sincerely
Dr Peter Bramley
Chief Executive