Te Whatu Ora accepts 400-plus voluntary redundancies

Monday, 21 October 2024

More than 400 applications for voluntary redundancy have been accepted at Te Whatu Ora, the country’s health service.

Staff at Te Whatu Ora were offered voluntary redundancy in August. The health provider confirmed “just over 400 voluntary redundancy applications” were accepted, as of Monday.

Its confirmation followed a statement from the Public Service Association on Sunday, saying 450 “health jobs” had been cut.

'The redundancy process has been done irrespective of the impacts on service delivery,“ said the union’s national organiser, Ashok Shankar.

“Essential workers will be impacted. This means public health, safety and wellbeing will be impacted too,” Shankar said.

But Te Whatu Ora chief executive Margie Apa said there would be no impact on health services.

“As we accept each voluntary redundancy, the impact of the person leaving, and workloads are taken into account. In some areas, a change to how the service works may be required. In other areas roles may be replaced if important to continuity,” she said.

Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) operates every public hospital and is the main provider of healthcare across the country.

It is also facing a significant cost overrun, according to Health Minister Shane Reti.

Its financial statements, released at the start of October, showed the organisation was heading for a $1.76 billion deficit by June.

Reti sacked the Health NZ board and appointed Professor Lester Levy as the commissioner, in charge of the entire organisation.