Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora is putting a voluntary redundancy scheme in place, according to the Public Service Association (PSA). 

In a statement, the union said the agency today issued a call for voluntary redundancy applications “to specialists working in health administration, advisory, and knowledge roles”. 

The PSA has worked with unionised public servants amidst job cuts and turbulent times, with a greater focus on results and outcomes. 

PSA national secretary Kerry Davies said the agency was “being forced to meet the Government’s unhinged and unplanned defunding of healthcare, no matter the consequences”. 

Davies added that the country stands to lose workers who keep medical records safe and schedule scans and operations. 

A commissioner replaced the board in July - considered the “strongest ministerial intervention available” by Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. 

Professor Lester Levy has a 12-month term. 

At the time, Reti said the situation had “worsened” across a number of months, adding that the agency was overspending at a rate of about $130 million a month, mostly on back-office staff. 

Health New Zealand earlier confirmed a recruitment pause on roles that were not patient-facing, as a measure to tackle the overspend. Agency chief executive Margie Apa was adamant staff and patient safety, and clinical delivery remained priorities. 

The agency apologised last month after a “mistake” and “human error” saw some Waikato-based nursing graduates rejected from job offers. 

Earlier this month, it was reported that Health New Zealand would disestablish 126 roles from its commissioning team, and axe a further 142 positions which had been left vacant. 

Voluntary redundancy processes have previously been put in place for some police staff, Oranga Tamariki workers, the Ministry of Social Development, and mega-ministry MBIE; most plans had been progressed earlier in the year in response to the Government’s directive to cut back-office roles and find efficiencies in the public sector. 

Health New Zealand has been approached for comment. 

More to come. 

Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.