Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) wanted a ‘‘warts and all’’ report into Dunedin’s needle exchange service, only to slap down its findings, its author says.
It comes after University of Otago honorary research fellow Dr Geoff Noller published a report detailing the drawbacks of new provider South Island-wide collective Te Wai Pounamu since it took over in October.
Among the issues reported by clientele included an initial inability to meet the demand, an increase in reusing among clientele and a hostile environment towards those who did not subscribe to abstinence-only methods.
But HNZ director for Starting Well Deborah Woodley said it was ‘‘mindful that inaccurate or incomplete information about the new provider affects confidence in the service’’.
‘‘We are exploring ways to counter misinformation, and build awareness of the service, ways to access free injecting equipment, and harm reduction advice and support.’’
HNZ later clarified it was concerned about ‘‘misinformation’’ that came through the community, not the report itself.
‘‘Health New Zealand does not have concerns that the new service will lead to an increase [in] needle sharing/reuse in blood-borne diseases or needle-use injuries among people who inject drugs but will continue to monitor the situation closely.
‘‘Nor does Health NZ have any concerns that Te Waipounamu Collective offer a range of health services, including abstinence programmes.’’
The contract had been previously held by the DISC Trust and some of the staff moved over to the new service.
However, DISC has reported clientele still using their services, and they have applied with HNZ to be an alternative provider in order to help with the situation.
Ms Woodley did not mention this application in her response.
‘‘The new site in Dunedin is less than 5 minutes’ walk from the old site, and in addition the new provider continues to support DISC with equipment for their vending machine in Dunedin, Christchurch and Nelson.
‘‘He Waka Tapu [the Canterbury lead provider] will be opening a new fixed site in mid-2026 within the city centre and this will help improve access for people who inject drugs.’’
The new provider in the South Island has been in place since October.
‘‘The first monitoring report from Te Waipounamu Collective [covering period November 1 to December 31, 2025] shows close to 210,000 needles being distributed, 400 unique individuals have accessed the service since opening on October 2025 — a third of whom identify as Māori.
When Dr Noller and DISC Trust executive director Philippa Jones were presented with these comments, they were ‘‘surprised’’ — not least because HNZ commissioned the trust to make a report that was ‘‘warts and all’’.
‘‘The report reinforces that harm reduction is a trust-based service, and when trust-based services are altered without meaningful engagement and consultation with consumers, there are often detrimental consequences,’’ Dr Noller said.
‘‘It is widely accepted that people who inject drugs often find it difficult to trust or use services that position abstinence as the primary goal [the position of the new provider], which makes this approach less effective for harm reduction.
‘‘Ms Woodley’s characterisation of clients’ experiences as ‘inaccurate or incomplete’, having requested this information, undermines clients, ignores their situations and invalidates their perspectives.’’
Ms Jones was equally disappointed.
‘‘The report referred to was requested from DISC Trust by Health NZ — presumably because they shared our concerns about increased sharing and reuse of equipment.
‘‘Therefore, it’s puzzling that Health NZ now dismisses the report’s findings.
‘‘The report draws on more than 400 pieces of qualitative feedback to describe the impacts of the change in needle exchange provider on people who inject drugs.
‘‘Those people reported an alarming increase in equipment re-use and sharing following the change in provider and attributed this changing behaviour to the new service delivery arrangements.’’
The ‘‘obvious solution’’ was for DISC to become an alternative provider, so they could provide a comprehensive harm reduction approach, Ms Jones said.
