Senior jobs to go at Health NZ – union

Thursday, 25 July 2024

Professor Lester Levy officially began his role of Health NZ commissioner on Wednesday.

A Health NZ staffer is facing redundancy for the second time in a year, as the agency’s commissioner, Lester Levy, begins efforts to scrape back a $1.4 billion deficit.

A total of 44 jobs are proposed to go at Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora including managers for hospital and specialty services, disabled people’s health, Māori health and commissioning, the PSA says.

Many of the roles have only recently been established.

One PSA member said they were called into a sudden meeting on Tuesday and were blindsided by the changes, having survived one redundancy proposal less than a year ago.

“We were caught completely off guard … I'm devastated. I love my work. I love my job. I do have a direct impact on the health and well being of New Zealanders, even if the prime minister thinks that I shuffle paper around all day.”

Their team of about 20 people was facing disestablishment, despite only having been created late last year.

Health NZ’s Lester Levy, who has been appointed as commissioner of the agency on a 12-month basis, says he's committed to finding savings and improving outcomes.

The union said the changes were communicated to staff on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after Levy officially began his role as commissioner with the task of fixing a $1.4b deficit at the agency.

The cuts are expected to be the first of many: Levy has said between 2500 and 3000 roles may be on the line.

Multiple sources have told The Post senior leaders Fionnagh Dougan, head of hospital and specialist services, and Abbe Anderson, head of commissioning, are among those being restructured out. Dougan was formerly chief executive of Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley district health board before the health reforms.

Health NZ declined to comment on the proposed cuts. “The organisation needs time to properly consult with and support our staff who are only just finding out what the changes might mean for them,” it said in a statement.

It referred The Post to the statement from Levy and chief executive Margie Apa on Tuesday.

Fionnagh Dougan, the head of hospital and specialist services, is understood to be facing losing her job.

That statement said the agency’s next step would be “resets [to] management to reduce the layers of decision making between the Chief Executive and staff who support patients and communities”.

The union claimed Apa told staff on Wednesday the changes “could be seen to further complicate change not yet fully implemented“.

The PSA called the move a rushed and reckless attempt to save money.

'Make no mistake, today’s restructuring will only complicate the ability of Te Whatu Ora to deliver a more effective health system,' national secretary Kerry Davies said.

The 44 roles were a mixture of directors, managers and staff across teams that in many cases had only recently been established under the guise of unifying and simplifying the health system, the union said.

Vital expertise in Māori health would also be lost with the proposal to axe the director of Māori health and the chief advisor of Māori health, it said.

The team of 20 facing restructuring were tasked with responding to questions from ministers and through the Official Information Act. It had been established so that others in the department could focus on improving front line services, the PSA member said.

They feared once the whole team went, that work would be pushed back onto regional teams, which were already short-staffed.

A Health NZ staff member set to lose their job says the cuts will have a flow on effect to the front line.

“That will have a flow on effect to front line service provision, because teams can't actually do the work if all they're doing is responding to ministers requests for information.”

They said the team had been told consultation would last for two weeks, with decisions expected by August 14.

They were terrified, saying they were the main breadwinner and had a mortgage and children.

“There's no room for redeployment. There's no expression of interest process this time, it's just once the decision lands: a cliff of unemployment.”

Nita Nooyen, PSA national lead organiser said the union had told Te Whatu Ora that two weeks was not sufficient consultation time.

The collective agreement stated proposals had to consider feedback and could not be a foregone conclusion, with changes made only after consultation has taken place.

Nooyen was concerned the proposed cuts would slice too far into back office roles.

“You can't run the front line without the back line supporting it. It's like playing rugby with just forwards and no backs,” Nooyen said.

She said the union was running webinars with its members over the next fortnight and would be working with Te Whatu Ora on issues as they arise.