Privacy Statement

This privacy statement explains how Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora – Southern may collect, use, store, correct, disclose and dispose of information gathered about members of the public for the purposes of providing health care in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, Health Information Privacy Code 2020 and other relevant legislation.

We may update this privacy statement from time to time. Please check this privacy statement for updates and modifications.

Collecting your personal information

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora - Southern collects personal information to fulfil its functions to provide health services for the Southern region. Included in these functions is work to improve, promote and protect the health of the population and communities including planning for and funding health services, carrying out teaching and research, monitoring quality and improving the services we deliver.

Use and disclosure of your Personal Information

In accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, the information we hold is used only for the purpose for which it is collected.

Information collected under the Privacy Act 2020 and Health Information Privacy Code 2020 can only be disclosed in very limited circumstances.

In some circumstances, your information may be shared with family, support people or other agencies if you give us your permission or disclosure is authorised by law. We will not disclose your personal information to other government agencies or other organisations without your consent, unless required or allowed by law.

Personal information will also be used to evaluate the quality of services we provide to ensure continuous improvement, analysis for the purpose of evaluating population health outcomes and for the design of services to ensure that these meet the needs of the population we serve.

Storing your Personal Information

Protecting your personal information and data is important to us. Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora – Southern takes reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is protected against loss, unauthorised access and unauthorised disclosure.

Accessing or correcting your information

You have the right to access information that we hold about you, and to correct it if it’s wrong.

To submit a request for personal information you can write to:

Dunedin: information@southerndhb.govt.nz
Southland: roisouthland@southerndhb.govt.nz
Queenstown Lakes: lakes.recp@southerndhb.govt.nz

We have 20 working days to respond to your request. If your request is urgent, you must state the reasons why. Before releasing personal information, it will be checked to make sure that confidential information is removed, and that other people’s privacy is protected. Some information may be legally withheld in certain circumstances, e.g. where your health or the privacy or safety of another person is at risk. If this happens you have the right to be told why the information is being withheld.

You also have the right to request correction of your information if you think it is wrong. In situations where we don’t agree the information should be changed, you can provide us with a statement of correction. We will attach this to the disputed documentation, to ensure they are read alongside each other.  

Privacy complaints or queries

If you have any queries or concerns about how your personal information has been managed, please contact us first at hnzprivacy@tewhatuora.govt.nz to see if we can resolve the problem.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your concerns, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. For more information see the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website.