Te Whatu Ora Health NZ confirms jobs cuts of 300-plus as DHB changes take effect

Te Whatu Ora chief executive Margie Apa. Photo / Samuel Rillstone, RNZ

By RNZ

More than 300 fulltime jobs have been cut at Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, with hundreds more set to go over the next few weeks.

Chief executive Margie Apa has told board members that final decisions been made on three of eight teams so far, with the loss of 322 full-time positions.

“Those first three will result in a reduced FTE base of 322, and we have the other teams scheduled to finalise their decisions over the next few weeks.”

Regional and national teams will gradually take over all the back office functions previously duplicated at 20 district health boards.

Apa said no frontline clinical roles are affected.

“We have not taken out front-line clinical roles or roles that are part of delivering front-line patient based care, so that’s one part of our shifting resources from back offices to support front-line.”

Apa said bringing together 20 district health boards has already saved about $75 million this year at the corporate level, including renegotiating insurance cover.

Hospital and community health staff in Auckland are also today getting backpay for breaches of the complicated Holidays Act going back years.

RNZ revealed in November the hospitals nationwide owed nearly $2 billion to about 270,000 employees.

Apa told the board the payouts had finally begun in Auckland.

Apa said Te Whatu Ora was pleased to have started the remediation process and plans to move quickly to pay staff the rest of what they are owed.