Statement attributable to Fiona McCarthy, Interim Chief Human Resources Officer

Throughout the various change processes at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora we have demonstrated a genuine commitment to consult and carefully consider both staff and union feedback.

The most obvious proof of our willingness to work with our people towards an agreed outcome is the fact that all of our initial proposals have been changed, to a greater or lesser degree, in response to their valuable feedback.

We are also taking every opportunity to retain/redeploy staff members whose previous roles were ultimately disestablished into new positions or vacant positions across the organisation. The logic of retaining as many of our experienced staff as possible is obvious and we’re working hard to do so.

The changes being undertaken at Health NZ are part of our ongoing effort to move toward a more sustainable future for healthcare and ensure our resources and people are organised in the best way to strengthen and support the frontline.

Some PSA claims today about changes to Health NZ teams are inaccurate.

The PSA incorrectly states that “the Audit, Assurance and Risk team … ensures funding of the primary health care sector is paid out correctly”. In fact, that is the role of contract managers, who sit in different teams.

In reality, changes to Audit, Assurance and Risk will see some of their most critical teams increase in size, including the Health Payments Integrity audit team, the Data Analytics team and the Risk Management team – all of which are doubling or more in size.

PSA claims about proposals for our People and Culture team are also misleading. There are c.1318 people currently employed in that team. Our proposal represents a net reduction against that number of only 24, with new roles meaning there are c.1294 positions in the new structure.

And finally, the suggestion that these changes are being “rushed” is farcical. These change processes have been underway for many many months, with some having even begun last year, and now delayed further by PSA legal action.

That is a completely unacceptable amount of time to keep people in limbo, uncertain about their job situation. And that is why, notwithstanding current PSA legal action, we have today released our decisions on two other Health NZ teams (Planning, Funding and Outcomes, and Procurement and Supply Chain) to the staff concerned.

While we cannot implement those two particular decisions, it does give people greater clarity over our thinking. We will continue to work with the PSA to try and resolve the various legal proceedings but will no longer allow that to prevent us sharing our decisions with our staff.

The Audit, Assurance and Risk final decision is being released to staff today. The People and Culture, Finance and Communications change processes are still pending final decisions.