Information received under the Official Information Act showed Te Whatu Ora paid $394,000 in redundancy payments to four Bay of Plenty staff and three Lakes staff.
The document said 19 roles in the Bay of Plenty and 17 roles in the Lakes had been disestablished since July 1, 2022. This included redundancy and redeployed roles.
Roles were disestablished in the departments of people and communication, finance, data and digital, commissioning, service improvement and innovation, and the office of the chief executive.
Redundancies had occurred in the departments of people and communications, service improvement and innovation, data and digital, and finance.
In the Bay of Plenty, 13 people were redeployed and two were “still in process with impacted staff”.
In the Lakes region, 11 people were redeployed and three were “still in process with impacted staff”.
Nationally, more than 500 staff had been made redundant as of February and were paid out a total of more than $9 million.
Ministry of Health cuts
The NZ Herald reported last Thursday the Ministry of Health has been searching for 6.5 per cent cost savings, with the final sign-off to be made by Public Service and Finance Minister Nicola Willis, in relation to the Budget.
All agencies have been directed to look for ways to cut back on costs of between 6.5 and 7.5 per cent on average and slash the use of contractors and consultants.
Ministry of Health workers were told about 270 positions would be disestablished, with roughly 130 restructured into new roles.
An internal document, sent to Public Service Association union members, seen by NZME, described 18 per cent of jobs were proposed to go.
In addition, the ministry was proposing withholding remuneration increases for some above a salary midpoint.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
