New Zealand's Chest Pain Crisis: What's Going On?

Dr Philip McMillan reports

THIS is the information provided by Ali Cook

THIS was information released to Aly Cook by Freedom of Information request

19 September 2024
Aly Cook
alycookpr@gmail.com

Tēnā koe Aly,

Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00061156
Thank you for your email on 28 August 2024, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). Please find our response to each of your questions below.

Please note that data is provisional and subject to change, as it has not been through a full Quality

Assurance process.
Response
1. The number of people under the age of 40 presenting to Emergency departments throughout NZ hospitals with Chest pain or heart issues for the years 2017 to 2024 ?

(Please provide figures year by year)

The data has been provided for the period from January 2018 to June 2024, as this represents the earliest and latest approved data available from DHBs.

PC preferred term for chest pain included right sided chest pain, chest wall pain, chest pain, musculoskeletal chest pain, chest pain on breathing, acute chest pain, chest pain on exertion, assessment of chest pain, anterior chest wall pain, atypical chest pain, history of chest pain, costal margin chest pain, non-cardiac chest pain, cardiac chest pain, dull chest pain, left sided chest pain, central chest pain, ischaemic chest pain.

The annual out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) report contains similar information, albeit specific to cardiac arrests, and is publicly available at https://www.stjohn.org.nz/news--info/our-performance/clinical-audit-and-research/cardiac-arrest-annual-report/

2. The number of ambulances called via healthline in the years 2017 to 2024. ? (Please provide figures year by year)

We cannot provide the number of ambulances called via Healthline as it is not reported.

Accordingly this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act, as the information is not held by Health NZ.
More information about the National Telehealth Service (which Healthline is part of) can be found in the published https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/health-services-and-programmes/digital- health/national-telehealth-service.

Note that the current plan with volumes to 30 June 2024 are yet to be published.

3. The number of ambulance arrivals at Emergency departs years 2017 to 2024 ? (Please provide figures year by year)

4. The number of confirmed cases of Pericarditis in the under 40s for the years 2017 to 2024

(Please provide figures year by year)

5. The number of confirmed cases of Myocarditis for the under 40s from the years 2017 to 2024
(Please provide figures year by year)

As this is a count of hospitalisations, people hospitalised multiple times (transfers, readmissions, multiple incidents) are counted each time.

Please note that hospitalisation data from 2021/22 onwards is considered provisional.

6. The number of confirmed deaths from heart attack or cardiac arrest in the under 40s from the years 2017 to 2024 (Please provide figures year by year)

Please note that the 2020 mortality data is considered provisional. At present this is the most recent year for which cause of death data is available.

After the close of a calendar year, there is a 12-18 month process to assign cause of death codes to the majority of deaths in that year. The Te Whatu Ora clinical coding team reviews the death certificate and health history of the deceased, to assign cause of death codes.

Approximately 10% of deaths are referred to the Coroner each year to determine cause. Deaths that require a coronial inquiry can take 2-3 or more years for cause of death to be determined. We do not make mortality data available publicly until the majority of deaths have been assigned a cause of death, so that the data we release is complete and accurate. The Chief Coroner has noted delays in the time it is taking them to determine cause of death.

While some of these numbers might seem low, they match the published numbers for years in which we have published data.

How to get in touch

If you have any questions, you can contact us at hnzOIA@tewhatuora.govt.nz.

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.

TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand

As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Health NZ may proactively release a copy of this response on our website. All requester data, including your name and contact details, will be removed prior to release.

Nāku iti noa, nā
Danielle Coe
Manager (OIAs) – Government Services