Shake-up at SDHB: 55 leadership roles axed and 42 new roles created

Friday, 30 June 2017

The disestablishment of management and leadership roles at the SDHB will save the organisation about $1m a year, chief executive Chris Fleming says.

Fleming announced on Friday that 55 leadership and management positions will be disestablished at the SDHB and 42 new roles created as part of a restructure.

The changes were being made to increase the DHBs focus on integration with primary care; clinical quality and safety; and reducing complexity in decision-making, he said.

One of the roles to be disestablished is deputy chief executive, with Fleming saying he wants to grow several people to potentially take over his role when he leaves, rather than ring fencing one person for the job. 

The new overall structure responded to staff calls for clearer decision-making processes at the DHB and extra focus on building more effective infrastructure such as IT, Fleming said.

The changes also addressed concerns raised by nursing staff over the level of investment in senior nursing roles, he said.

He was confident the changes would ensure more effective use of resources to provide the best care for patients and the community. 

Fleming, when confirming the shape of the future leadership structure in a press release, said the disestablished jobs would be tier 2, 3 and 4 leadership and management positions.

Tier 2 were senior executive positions, tier 3 were general managers and tier 4 were positions such as service managers and team leaders.

The final wash-up sees 13 positions axed, less than the 23 axings proposed by the DHB before it began consulting staff in April.

The final decisions were made after a two-month consultation period.

The changes follow both patients and the community calling for more seamless and integrated health care services.

Many of the driving forces in health care required 'transformational change' to primary services, whether in mental health or in caring for the aged, Fleming said.

'We need to ensure we have the right structures to ensure a strong and integrated whole-of-system approach to delivering care.'

Key changes include establishing two core operational teams: Hospital-based services plus planning, funding, primary and community based services.

Also, nursing and allied health and scientific and technical leadership would be aligned to be 'broadly site specific'.