Further job cuts are looming at Health NZ Te Whatu Ora, with staff working in its IT department receiving news on Monday that their jobs could soon be gone.
Some staff in the Data and Digital team received an email from integration and delivery director Rogan Clarke – which has been screenshot and sent to RNZ – saying their jobs may be lost in a proposed restructure.
“Following our recent engagement sessions, we have now developed a proposal for Data and Digital,” Clarke wrote.
“I need to let you know that your position could be significantly affected, and potentially disestablished, by this proposal.”
No decisions had been made yet, he said. The proposal would be presented to the entire Data and Digital team on Wednesday afternoon.
Affected staff had been invited to a meeting before the wider hui, “to explain how this proposal may impact your role, to discuss what support is available, and for you to ask questions you may have around process”.
The changes were part of Health NZ’s effort to “make sure our people, processes, infrastructure and budgets are organised to make sure all New Zealanders have access to quality, compassionate, affordable healthcare, at the right time, in the right place,” Clarke wrote.
That included reducing duplication and re-prioritising work to better support the organisation’s priorities and regional decision-making, he said.
In a statement to RNZ, Te Whatu Ora confirmed “formal change processes will start this week across some parts of the organisation”.
It would not speculate on how many roles could be impacted while the process was ongoing, and said no decisions would be made before Christmas.
The joint health unions said Te Whatu Ora told them in October it must save another $100 million from data and digital work, but the agency refused to confirm or deny this.
Separately, it accepted more than 400 voluntary redundancies in October, as part of efforts to cut costs to ease a huge deficit.
And the Public Service Association said in August 268 jobs in the commissioning team were set to go.
So far more than 7500 jobs have been axed across the public service as the government tightens its belt, and some big departments – Te Whatu Ora included – are yet to detail the size of their restructures.
rnz.co.nz
