The union representing public servants has filed legal action against Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora — claiming the organisation had breached employment law with its proposed job cuts.
Thousands of public sector jobs are being cut or proposed to be cut, driven by a Government directive to find savings wherever possible, outside frontline roles.
In December, it was reported Health NZ proposed to cut almost half of its information technology and digital positions — more than 1000 jobs — and another 358 from the National Public Health Service roles.
Health NZ has disputed the scale of the potential losses.
In a bid to stop these proposals, the Public Service Association (PSA) has now filed proceedings with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).
The proceedings were focused on the planned cuts to Health NZ's Data and Digital Directorate, the National Public Health Service and the Pacific Health Directorate.
"This litigation is aimed at stopping these rushed and damaging cuts, which will endanger the lives of patients and see thousands of dedicated health workers lose their jobs," acting PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said, in a statement.
"The PSA will leave no stone unturned in trying to stop dangerous health cuts and job losses."
Fitzsimmons said the proposed changes were "grossly substandard", contained "basic inaccuracies", and paid "little regard to the health and safety implications of the proposals on workers and patients".
The union said it would ask the Employment Relations Authority to issue a compliance order, stopping the dismissal of employees because Health NZ had allegedly breached its obligations under collective agreements, the code of good faith in public health, the Healthy Workplaces Agreement, and Te Mauri o Rongo The Health Charter.
"Health NZ Te Whatu Ora is obliged to ensure health workers are valued, respected and supported and that patient safety is paramount. These have been breached through a succession of poorly planned and executed restructures," Fitzsimons said.
According to the union, Health NZ's proposal to strip the Data and Digital Directorate could seriously affect patients. It warned cutting IT staff could leave Health NZ vulnerable to cyber attacks, with patient data at risk.
The PSA wrote a letter to the Privacy Commissioner, urging it to examine how the cuts would impact patients' information.
The PSA also said Health NZ had failed to provide adequate reasons for the cuts and had not properly listened to staff "in the rush to deliver the savings the Government demanded".
"Ultimately, the Government must take the blame for forcing Health NZ Te Whatu Ora to make these reckless changes to fund tax cuts. Lives will be lost unless these cuts are stopped," Fitzsimons said.
"The PSA urges the Government to reverse the cuts before long-term damage is done to the quality of patient care. The stakes are too high."
'We are aware of the action'
Health NZ interim chief HR officer Fiona McCarthy told RNZ the agency was going through a "reset" to strengthen its frontline and provide compassionate, quality, and affordable healthcare.
"We started a consultation process with impacted staff in December 2024 and throughout the process we have been focussed on transparency both with our staff and unions."
She said no decisions had been made on the final structure and that the organisation was considering staff feedback.
"While we are aware of the action taken by the PSA it would be inappropriate to comment further as this is an ongoing legal matter."
On the proposed IT cuts, Health NZ said previously it took patient privacy extremely seriously.
"That will always be a critical consideration for us," acting chief information technology officer Darren Douglass told RNZ.
He said the opportunity for feedback on the consultation document for its Digital Services team had now closed.
"The team has been highly engaged in the consultation process. We will now take time to carefully consider all feedback before any final decisions are made," Douglass said.
"All decision documents will be shared with affected staff first. We will update staff in the coming weeks on the timeline for next steps."
Margie Apa resigned as chief executive of Health NZ Te Whatu Ora last Friday, shortly before Dr Nicholas Jones also confirmed he would also step down as Director of Public Health.
Health Commissioner Lester Levy had previously told The Post newspaper he wanted a chief executive who did stuff instead of writing about it.
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