Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand has decided to keep 175 more roles in Digital Services following consultation with stakeholders.
The organisation previously proposed to let go of about a third or 653 full-time equivalent positions in data and digital, representing the biggest reduction among services.
"Te Whatu Ora recognises that digital services are a key enabler for efficient and effective health services for all New Zealanders," it said.
While it has now retained 1,460 data and digital roles nationally, it will proceed to disestablish 610 current and 758 vacant roles in Digital Services. Meanwhile, 447 employees were offered redeployment. Public Service Association (PSA), the country's largest trade union, opposed the move, claiming it disregards patient safety and data security.
"The PSA remains deeply concerned that sensitive patient information will be at greater risk from cybersecurity breaches because of these cuts," said national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.
In February, the union lodged a complaint with the Employment Relations Authority against Te Whatu Ora's proposed layoffs.
Amid the organisation's ageing legacy systems, Fitzsimons argued that "[n]ow more than ever, Te Whatu Ora should be retaining a much larger workforce of highly skilled data and digital experts."
"We currently have more roles available in the digital team than people, and we are committed to enabling as many staff as possible to be retained or redeployed into roles in this team and elsewhere in the organisation," Sonny Taite, acting chief information technology officer of Te Whatu Ora, emphasised in their statement.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
The decision to abolish data and digital roles comes a month after the government agency held back on its proposed job cuts. Te Whatu Ora initially found a way to save costs in Digital Services "through operational efficiencies, voluntary redundancy, and early exit processes."
The staff reduction is part of several cost-cutting measures the organisation has been making since last year, largely affecting digital health and IT projects and roles. These include the flagship national health information program, Hira, whose budget was diverted and is currently paused.
Meanwhile, costs to maintain over 4,000 legacy applications and systems mounted, forcing the organisation to ease on IT implementations.
