Health NZ denies it has ordered a hiring freeze

By means of RNZ

Health New Zealand denies its directives to managers to review roles is a hiring freeze, saying it is still recruiting to fill shortages.

The agency has written to health unions outlining guidelines it has issued to hospitals, including banning duplication of shifts, closing some vacancies and forcing staff to take advantage of furlough.

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora said it was tightening measures because it could not enter the new financial year with a deficit as it currently was.

The guidelines for a review of unfilled positions ask managers to “consider their permanent removal as part of budget processes,” but CEO Margie Apa said this was not a hiring freeze.

“Especially if you’ve had positions that have been vacant for (several months) and you’ve been able to function as a service company, I think it’s reasonable for leaders to consider whether they need that role or whether they’re performing the job in the same way as they might have hired when they thought they needed that role,” Apa said.

Health Minister Shane Reti said such decisions were the responsibility of Health NZ, not the government.

In a statement, he said this is not a hiring freeze on doctors or nurses at Health NZ and the guidance would not take resources away from the frontline.

In response, Labor Health spokeswoman Ayesha Verrall said this was a “stupid statement”.

“I mean it has been absolutely proven not to be true by the fact that Te Whatu Ora has sent a letter saying some features will be reviewed and some will be scrapped.”

She believed the guidelines suggested they were cuts to frontline roles.

“There are still major gaps in medical roles, especially in the roles of medical specialists. Those people are difficult to recruit, it takes a long time,” says Verrall Morning report.

“And the fact that they haven’t been filled for a while is no reason to remove them. Sometimes they are even necessary because a service is on the edge of sustainability.”

There was also a lack of transparency about how many jobs this guidance would affect, she said.

“They haven’t thought that they could jeopardize the ability to fill these roles by saying ‘we’re scrapping them or reviewing them’ and delaying the whole process, and that could have catastrophic consequences for small services that rely on these specialist skills. .”

Who will it affect?

Apa told Morning report Health NZ asked managers to consider this as “guidance”, not a directive, in areas where they were fully staffed and at capacity.

“In those areas where they’re hiring, and they’re meeting full staffing levels, it’s reasonable, and we’ve asked leaders to think about how they’re deploying staff.

“We are doing that and asking leaders to make sure they ensure people are taking leave and breaks… and ensure they return to some of our previous practices (pre-Covid) of managing staff and rosters.”

They expected managers to make their judgments depending on the service, Apa said.