Te Whatu Ora proposes 300 more roles to go

Friday, 13 December 2024

Te Whatu Ora is proposing nearly 300 roles be cut on top of the 1500 that were proposed to go last month, the union representing public service workers says.

Four proposals today would see 200 roles slashed from business unit that deals with planning and funding.

Another unit that deals with procurement and technology would shed the other 92 roles set to go.

Public Service Association national health lead Ashok Shankar said the proposals will impact frontline services and delivery.

'Community and mental health services, and research, clinical trials, population health, whānau voice and innovation are impacted the most by the proposed cuts.”

The cuts come as Te Whatu Ora tries to keep up with the Government's demands to save $2 billion in its budget.

Te Whatu Ora’s chief executive Margie Apa said “I acknowledge the significant impact these changes have on the lives of our people, as we reset our organisation to get back to budget and move resources and decision making closer to local communities.”

“A key focus of these changes is to consolidate national-level enabling and support functions, reduce duplication and build in more flexibility for how we provide services and insights to regions. A substantial number of proposed impacted positions are vacant.”

Last month, it was announced that close to 1500 public health roles were being dropped from the data and digital team, Hauora Māori unit, public health service team and Pacific health team. Seven hundred of those roles were vacant.

The union is challenging Te Whatu Ora over the timing of the release - less than two weeks from Christmas - as it has been repeatedly delayed.

'Some workers are currently on annual leave, which has been encouraged by their employer. The timing of the release reduces their ability to give feedback on the change documents in a timely manner,” said Shankar.