The amount spent on health redundancies shows again the Government’s cuts are impacting people’s services, Labour says.
A response to Written Parliamentary Questions from Health Minister Simeon Brown shows $33 million was spent on payouts at Health New Zealand – and another $4m at the Health Ministry – between November 2023, when the coalition came to power, and February 7.
Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said the Government was only part way through its health restructuring and those figures were large in the context of the wider public sector cuts.
“So this will only be part of the cuts that are under way at Health New Zealand ... $33m is a lot that could be spent better on other health services that New Zealanders could have.
“This is large in the context of the overall cuts to New Zealand’s public service. New Zealanders are losing access to services because of these government cuts.”
Verrall pointed to a PSA survey which found 86% of health workers thought cuts would make it harder for people to get healthcare.
Labour's health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says she has heard of health workers who had taken voluntary redundancy, only to see those jobs being readvertised. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“People are not getting the care they need, whether that’s because of unavailability of clinicians or cuts to the staff that support them.”
Brown, announcing a suite of policies aimed at supporting frontline health on Monday, attacked the PSA’s acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons over the survey.
“Look, that’s from the PSA union led by a failed Labour Party candidate who couldn’t even win her safe Labour Party seat. Come on.
“We have invested significantly in frontline services and we will continue to do so – and that’s where we want the investment, not in the bureaucracy. So I accept that they are doing what unions do, but they are led by a failed Labour Party candidate who is simply just trying to oppose what this government is trying to do to make healthcare more accessible for Kiwis."
He said it was a self-selecting survey and only a small fraction of health workers took part.
Verrall said she had also heard of health workers who had taken voluntary redundancy only to see those jobs now being readvertised.
“It is totally chaotic and not a way to run a health service.
“It shows that the Government is being indiscriminate with its cuts, and they’re having impacts on front-line services. They’re not going through, as they might claim, systematically identifying where changes could be made without impact.”
Verrall said it had been a struggle to get the redundancy figures from the minister, with Brown initially saying the information could not be reported in full within the time required – despite Brown’s predecessor Shane Reti having answered a similar question.
Labour then complained to the Speaker’s office, and Brown last month responded, saying Health NZ had changed the advice provided to him on the matter.
