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The government is planning to axe 1120 roles from the data and digital group within Te Whatu Ora – Health NZ as well as hundreds more from the National Public Health Service.
The data and digital cuts represent 47 per cent of the workforce while the 358 roles going from public health represent 24 per cent of its workforce, the Public Service Association (PSA) said today.
The cuts include some 700 roles vacant because of the recruitment freeze.
The data and digital group is responsible for managing often outdated IT systems.
The group plays a key role in integrating the various IT systems managed by the District Health Boards, ensuring that antiquated systems can still function, the PSA said.
“We already spend far less than other countries on public health IT systems, yet the government chose to axe $400 million from Te Whatu Ora IT projects in this year’s Budget, and now a further $100 million is being cut,” said Ashok Shankar, national health sector lead at the PSA Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“These cuts mean Te Whatu Ora will only do the bare minimum, putting band-aids on an already failing system and not proceeding with planned upgrades.”
The promise of the health reforms, including a modern fit for purpose IT system that delivers accurate data on patients to clinicians, was being “scuttled” by the cuts, Shankar said.
“A seamless IT system would have accelerated access to critical patient information, now we are going back to the past – the chaotic post-code system where your treatment at a hospital depended on where you lived,” he said.
Health NZ CEO Margie Apa confirmed a large number of positions were to go.
Apa told Radio NZ the agency was still spending more than it had in its budget despite making good progress towards “living within our means”.
Despite major investment in a new Oracle ERP platform, significant disconnects remain between Health NZ and its 21 district health boards charged with delivering frontline services.
Health NZ deputy commissioner Roger Jarrold told Parliament’s health committee in September the organisation had done an excellent job of rolling out a modern Finance, Procurement and Information System (FPIM), based on Oracle’s E-Business Suite.
However, efforts to marry a matrix of 21 district health board systems across the new platform were ongoing.
“That has been quite a struggle in getting accounting information out in a timely manner to managers,” Jarrold told the committee.
Payroll systems were also fragmented while having to deal with complex changes to pay equity and the Holidays Act.
All up, if the latest proposal goes ahead, the government would have shed 3226 health roles, the PSA said.