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Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora is putting a voluntary redundancy scheme in place, according to the Public Service Association (PSA).��

In a statement, the union said the agency today issued a call for voluntary redundancy applications “to specialists working in health administration, advisory, and knowledge roles”.��

The PSA has worked with unionised public servants amidst job cuts and turbulent times, with a greater focus on results and outcomes.��

PSA national secretary Kerry Davies said the agency was “being forced to meet the Government’s unhinged and unplanned defunding of healthcare, no matter the consequences”.��

Davies added that the country stands to lose workers who keep medical records safe and schedule scans and operations.��

A commissioner replaced the board in July - considered the “strongest ministerial intervention available” by Health Minister Dr Shane Reti.��

Professor Lester Levy has a��12-month term.��

At the time, Reti said the situation had “worsened” across a number of months, adding that the agency was overspending at a rate of about $130 million a month, mostly on back-office staff.��

Health New Zealand earlier confirmed a recruitment pause on roles that were not patient-facing, as a measure to tackle the overspend. Agency chief executive Margie Apa was adamant staff and patient safety, and clinical delivery remained priorities.��

The agency apologised last month after a “mistake” and “human error” saw some Waikato-based nursing graduates rejected from job offers.��

Earlier this month, it was reported that Health New Zealand would��disestablish��126 roles from its commissioning team, and axe a further 142 positions which had been left vacant.��

Voluntary redundancy processes have previously been put in place for some police staff, Oranga Tamariki workers, the Ministry of Social Development, and mega-ministry MBIE;��most plans had been progressed earlier in the year��in response to the Government’s directive to cut back-office roles and find efficiencies in the public sector.��

Health New Zealand has been approached for comment.��

More to come.��

Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined ��һ�ǿ����� in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.��