The PSA said this refutes the Government’s claims the cuts won’t affect the front line.
According to information from Health NZ received under the Official Information Act (OIA), 586 voluntary redundancy offers were accepted nationally from August 2024 to January 21, 2025, of which 23 were from Hawke’s Bay payroll-based staff.
The total paid out for these redundancies nationally, as of January 17, was $20.65m, of which Hawke’s Bay staff made up $896,442. This figure excluded final salary or leave entitlements.
Staff who had accepted offers would have varying end dates, and the spend would not reflect the number of accepted offers, as payment was only made when employment ended.
According to the PSA survey, 81% strongly agreed with the statement “cuts and restructuring over the last year had a negative impact on the services delivered”, 86% surveyed agreed “proposed health cuts will make it harder for people to get healthcare”, 72% strongly agreed with the statement “my service is underfunded”, and 84% strongly agreed that “the health cuts should be stopped”.
The survey says it shows the experiences of healthcare workers and demonstrates the reality of cuts to the health services, saying hiring restrictions brought in by the cuts have added to wait times, cuts to administrators have decreased quality of care, cuts to IT will cause technology to fail and risk patients' lives, the cuts have worsened health inequities, and lack of investment in the health system damages health and increases costs in the future.
“Addressing the challenges within New Zealand’s health system requires adequate funding and investment in the people who make up the system itself,” an unnamed PSA member said in the survey.
“This includes the healthcare workers who take care of us, and the administrative and support staff who make that possible.”
However, in a statement to RNZ on Monday morning, Health NZ acting chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain said there was no hiring freeze.
“Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora employs a workforce of over 90,000 highly skilled and experienced professionals, and this workforce does fluctuate,” Chamberlain said.
He said for non-clinical roles, Health NZ was recruiting where a role was essential “to achieve our priorities, including the health targets”.
Minister of Health Simeon Brown said in a statement that from the 12 months from September 2023 to September 2024, the clinical workforce grew by over 2700 staff and the Government would continue to invest in the front-line health workforce, rather than increasing bureaucracy.
In August, then-Health NZ chief executive Margie Apa confirmed a voluntary redundancy scheme was being offered to some workers, which the union confirmed as those who kept medical records safe and scheduled scans and operations.
At the time, the PSA said Health NZ was “being forced to meet the Government’s unhinged and unplanned defunding of healthcare, no matter the consequences”.
Health NZ interim chief human resources officer Fiona McCarthy said staff employed under individual employment agreements or covered by two specific PSA collective agreements were eligible to apply for voluntary redundancy.
Front-line clinical staff were not eligible for voluntary redundancy and other criteria and exclusions applied.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
