Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau
More than 2400 jobs are now on the line at Health NZ, with about half of them currently vacant.
The agency this week confirmed it was consulting on proposed restructures in its people and culture team, and communications and engagement team.
In the people and culture team 613 jobs were slated to go, while 119 communications and engagement roles were proposed to be cut.
Ten departments were undergoing restructures, but the changes were all proposals, with no decisions confirmed.
In total 2440 jobs are proposed to be gone, including vacancies.
Photo: RNZ / Lauren Crimp
Health NZ interim chief human resources officer Fiona McCarthy said the agency was asking for feedback from staff and unions over the next few weeks.
"We recognise that the change process has been unsettling for staff, but we are focussed on strengthening our frontline and enabling them to provide quality, affordable healthcare at the right time and in the right place and, importantly, achieve the national health and mental health targets," she said.
"It is our intention that the vast majority of change process across Health NZ will be completed by mid-2025."
Health NZ in March abandoned proposed restructures in two departments after "cost savings were achieved
Legal action looming
Proposed restructures in four Health NZ departments were already the subject of a legal challenge by the Public Service Association (PSA).
Those plans were due to be scrutinised by the Employment Relations Authority at hearings on 22 and 23 April, unless Health NZ and the PSA came to an agreement beforehand.
The PSA was considering whether it would challenge the people and culture change proposal, too.
Cuts to help manage billion dollar deficit
At the end of last year, Health NZ's expected deficit for 2024-25 was $1.1 billion, and change was needed to "live within budget", then chief executive Margie Apa said.
An independent financial review by Deloitte, released last month, found the agency had lost control of spending, with missing plans and unheeded warnings of financial troubles looming.
But it also said some factors in the budget blowout were outside the agency's control - including the 30 percent rise of nurses' wages over three years.
The same day the report was released, Health Minister Simeon Brown announced a major overhaul of the health system including reinstating a board and "partnering" with the private sector.
Health NZ's productivity was declining despite growth in the workforce and core operating funding almost doubling between 2014 and 2024, he said.
Fitzsimons said the fact Health NZ was cutting jobs to save money showed the system needed "much greater funding".
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
