Te Whatu Ora has been unable to specify which parts of the hospital system are safely staffed, despite stating that this was a critical factor in its decision to cut costs.

The organization has implemented measures such as ending double shifts, back-filling sick leave, and ordering more staff to take annual leave.

In an interview that month, Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ chief executive Margie Apa said the measures would be applied in departments that were safely staffed, but when asked where those areas were, she said she did not have the information in front of her.

RNZ followed up to ask for the information.

It took two months for Te Whatu Ora to provide a response.

That response did not specify how many areas were safely staffed, instead stating that 86 percent of patient clinical areas were using a formal process (Care Capacity Demand Management) to measure safe staffing.

'Just because you have a methodology, and that methodology is being applied, doesn't actually mean that you've got a sufficient number of nurses working on the wards,' he said.

'You can keep measuring anything as long as you like but it doesn't actually create any change unless you are prepared to invest in filling the gaps that the methodology has revealed.

' 'Safe staffing is a constant balance of sufficient staff, correct skill mix, and levels of clinical demand on this staffing; a clinical demand that can fluctuate significantly at any time.

' The question is very difficult to answer at any one time as every day, there is a constantly changing situation,' its response said.

The union had done its own analysis based on 2023 Te Whatu Ora data that found a quarter of all nursing shifts were below target staffing numbers, and many worked at unsafe levels all the time.

Now, many departments had better nursing numbers than last year, but there was still an estimated shortage of 2500.

Goulter said all the cost-cutting measures, including a subsequent hiring freeze, were having a big impact on nurses.

'What they're facing, increasingly due to these budget cutbacks is shortages of resources on the frontline.

' When RNZ followed up to ask Te Whatu Ora for the information Apa did not have during the Checkpoint interview, it said that could not be answered straightaway.

It opted to put the questions through its formal Official Information Act process.

Then it said an extension was required, delivering the information two months later.

Health NZ has ordered an end to double shifts and imposed new limitations on replacing sick staff in wards during the day to save money.

Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs.

The coalition government got rid of the Māori Health Authority in a hurry.

What is it doing now instead? High needs dementia and psychogeriatric care residents are waiting an average of six months for admission to an aged residential care facility, a report has found.

The move showed both dissatisfaction with Te Whatu Ora and concern about whether the public health system can cope with demand, union leaders say.