[6] Greg McGee at South Pacific Pictures wanted to base a series on the new private clinics emerging under New Zealand's Labour government and suggested the idea to scriptwriter Dean Parker, who declined due to a dislike of private medicine, so TV2 and South Pacific Pictures purchased a formula from Grundy Television, who receive a royalty cheque for every subsequent broadcast.

[6] With high public interest in the show and a viewing figure of a constant 600,000, Shortland Street received more sets and the outdated nursing uniforms were replaced.

[10] Michael Galvin and Angela Bloomfield were brought back as their characters Chris Warner and Rachel McKenna and the show appointed a new producer.

The episode featured Chris discovering he had a son with series original Alison Raynor in 1996, and the conclusion to the three-year Kieran Mitchell storyline which saw the shows second highest ever ratings.

In July 2011, Shortland Street achieved a New Zealand first when it made its 2011 feature-length episode available to purchase via Facebook, becoming the second ever TV show in the world to use this technology.

[12] In August 2011, All Blacks Keven Mealamu, Anthony Boric and Jerome Kaino filmed a scene that aired on the opening night of the 2011 Rugby World Cup on 9 September.

[13][14] The show added short transition scenes in which two characters in the hospital elevator discussed the wins or losses (the latter never actually happening) the All Blacks endured during the tournament.

[15][16] On 15 December 2016, Shortland Street released a charity single featuring Lionel Wellington and J.J. Fong to raise money for Starship Children's Health hospital.

[21][22] In response, NZNO President Anne Daniels criticised the series for misrepresenting the difficult working conditions for nurses while National Party MP Chris Penk expressed concerns about the collaboration between the Government and creative industry.

In response to criticism, Little stated that the "Real Nurses" campaign had been created by the NZNO, which had approached the Government to secure financial support for it.

The most recent being Shortland Street: Retribution, the first spinoff with an R16 (Violence and Coarse Language) rating, with the storyline revolving around Constable Curtis Hannah (Jaden Daniel) and Esther Samuels (Ngahuia Piripi).

In the first year of the show, it was decided that CEO Michael McKenna's personal assistant, Jenny, should be a solo mother to help draw in that demographic, who statistically would be watching TV at 7 pm.

Originally, Shortland Street was filmed at Browns Bay on the North Shore until their relocation to purpose built studios in West Auckland in 2000.

Another early controversy was that of a lesbian kiss between Meredith Fleming and Annie Flynn with several complaints made to the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) but it went no further.

It was not until 2008 that the show received its first ever BSA warning, when it featured an oral sex scene in mid-2008 between sexually confused Gerald and a fellow man.

[30] A few months later, the show received a second warning for an episode in August 2008 depicting the brutal murder of Craig Valentine, who was beaten unconscious, then set alight in his car.

[31] Again, a few months later, the show received yet another warning about a scene in January 2009 where Tania Jeffries hit a gang leader in the head with a hammer.

[32] Scenes aired in April 2010 sparked criticism when Leanne Miller and her daughter Nicole stated that the city of Tauranga was not "gay friendly".

[34] This upset the family of murdered girl Sophie Elliott who was killed by her university tutor, Clayton Weatherston, who she had been dating.

"[35] The show's production department received several complaints following the lesbian love storyline involving Maia Jeffries and Jennifer Mason.

[36] A storyline aired in April 2011 which featured the Cooper Family try to go to the beach, but they get confronted by a group of Māori who demand money.

[37] Maori adviser Ngamaru Raerino stated that viewers shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and should have let the storyline completely unfold which reveals the group are protesting against a corrupt camp owner who had been polluting the beach.

[38] In September 2011, Shortland Street was identified as one of the main influences to people who self-harm, airing two storylines involving suicide attempts.

[39] During 2017, one episode ended with a cliffhanger featuring Chris Warner confronting his son Harry with a 'dick pic' he found on his tablet computer.

[citation needed] From May 1994, Border, Granada started showing the series as a replacement for A Country Practice (although some regions continued to air both), broadcast in the afternoons at their own pace in various daytime slots.

[citation needed] From January 2003, the Carlton-owned ITV franchises including Central Television, Westcountry, HTV and Carlton-London networked Shortland Street in an afternoon slot, 14:30–15:00, Monday to Wednesday, with a Thursday episode added a few months later.

A special programme was aired (presented by stalwart Shortland Street cast members Michael Galvin (Chris Warner) and Angela Bloomfield (Rachel McKenna)) introducing new viewers from Westcountry and Carlton-London to the show.

However, Shortland Street failed to attract a significant audience in its new afternoon slot and was axed completely by ITV and was last shown on 28 August 2003, finishing at episode 2367.

[citation needed] In 2025, it was announced that STV Player would start streaming three new episodes of Shortland Street every Monday from 17th February 2025.

[51][52] A licensed version of the show started production in Ukraine in 2016 called "Central Hospital" (Центральна лікарня) with an initial run of 60 episodes.