Nearly three months and we have the names

On some days everything you need for a news article seems to float effortlessly in the door. On others, you can wear the skin off your fingertips by typing so many emails.

Finding out who’s helping Stephen McKernan design New Zealand’s biggest health reforms in a generation was one of the latter. It felt like it took a generation, but really it was a bit under three months, including the Official Information Act’s summer holiday.

The announcement that EY consultant Mr McKernan would head the unit – to be comprised of experts from health services, the Ministry of Health and other government agencies – was made in September. The unit is based in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC).

My colleague Fiona Cassie’s questions established that, as well as Mr McKernan, the unit would include other EY people. Initial indications from the DPMC were Mr McKernan’s appointment could be for up to 18 months. Later it was stated the EY team would be on the job until the end of next month, under a $2.4 million contract.

It seemed worthwhile to know who from EY had joined Mr McKernan. Readers of New Zealand Doctor|Rata Aotearoa might recognise some of the names, or a particular flavour of reform might be anticipated depending on the personnel.

So, on 27 November I asked the department’s strategic communica­tions and engagement director Catherine Delore who they were, only to be told by email on 18 December:

“Beyond Stephen McKernan, as leader of the transition unit, we’re not naming individuals in the team in the same way we don’t for other business units in DPMC. And it’s also worth noting that people will come and go a little depending on the skill sets required as the work progresses.”

On 18 December, I asked the Ombudsman to review the decision to withhold the information.

A senior investigator in the Ombudsman’s office emailed on 9 January to say she was looking into my request. She followed up on 22 January to say the DPMC would reconsider my request and contact me by 22 February.

On schedule, the department’s manager of ministerial and business services, Sarah Corbett, emailed to say that after discussions with the Office of the Ombudsman it had been decided to release the information.

Ms Corbett notes that my request was initially interpreted as a media enquiry. Journalists will know that government agencies make a distinc­tion between “media enquiries” and Official Information Act requests. The former – which are of course still for official information – seem to be judged as not needing to go through the time-consuming bureaucracy established to manage OIA requests.

To the names, then. At 18 Decem­ber, the EY staff in the unit were Adam Naiman, Bex Sullivan, Chris Mules, Emily Mailes, Francis Hwang, Jacky Tsao, Kohe Ruwhiu, Meneka Gooneratne, Rana Wong, Stephen McKernan and William Horridge.

The non-EY staff were Martin Hefford, Chad Paraone, Geraldine Woods, Bernard Te Paa, Jason Moses, Jess Edlin, Oliver Poppelwell, Simon Medcalf, Tom O’Brien, Sarah Howard, Kaeden Watts, Jill Caughey, Mhairi McHugh and Reece Price.