Health Minister Simeon Brown says Health NZ needs to look at its proposal around data and digital "to make sure that it is going to be able to support the current systems". Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
IT workers - threatened with large-scale job cuts at Health NZ - are hoping for a reprieve, after the health minister revealed he has asked officials to think again.
The agency had proposed to axe almost half its more than 2000 digital and data roles, and scrap or defer 136 IT projects, including upgrades to booking systems and radiology.
In a speech on Friday to the Business NZ Health Forum, Health Minister Simeon Brown said the health infrastructure investment pipeline was one of his "key priorities".
Digital infrastructure was "fragmented", with about 6000 applications and 100 digital networks, he said.
"That equates to roughly one application for every 16 Health New Zealand staff members, which is unsustainable."
In response to questions from reporters, Brown said he had asked Health NZ to look at its proposal around data and digital "to make sure that it is going to be able to support the current systems".
"We do need a transition to proper 21st century systems at Health NZ , that is going to take some time," he said.
"In the meantime, we need to make sure we are supporting those existing systems so that we can provide the care patients need and support clinicians in the important work they do."
Brown said he was expecting all the proposals on "back office bureaucracy" concluded by the middle of May.
Health NZ acting chief information technology officer, Sonny Taite, said the organisation was making changes to ensure its "support functions" were "right sized to support the front-line".
"The changes to our Data and Digital team remain a proposal at this point.
"IT systems will continue to operate, and appropriate transitional arrangements and contingency plans will be put in place once any final decisions are made."
Health NZ was currently considering all feedback before final decisions were made, he said.
"We will update staff in the coming weeks on the timeline for next steps.
"It is our intention that the vast majority of change process across Health NZ will be completed by mid-2025."
'Clear commitment' to reversing cuts needed - union
Public Service Association national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the loss of data and digital specialist roles would have a "devastating" long-term impact on the public health system.
"The minister is finally waking up to the lasting damage that the job losses of 1100 specialist data and digital workers would mean. We need a clear commitment from the Minister to reverse the cuts and instead work with our dedicated IT professionals to make sure patient safety is central to any change."
Axing so many critical workers would hurt core aspects of patient care, from accurate charting medicines and analysing test results, to booking operating theatres, she said.
Nelson Hospital IT infrastructure engineer Bernd Wachter, a PSA member, said he and his colleagues were "flat-out" keeping out-of-date systems alive.
He had even had to "scrub up" and fix a malfunctioning computer in an operating theatre mid-surgery, to allow the operating team to monitor the patient's vital signs.
It was "inevitable" that patients would needlessly die if the cuts went ahead, he told RNZ earlier this month.
Private sector 'here to help'
Digital Health Association chief executive Ryl Jensen - who represents health software companies and healthcare providers - welcomed the fact the minister was "asking questions" about the proposed cuts.
"It has been a devastating year for digital and we've gone backwards at a rate of knots."
Jensen said the sector was also taking heart from the Minister's commitment to explore public-private partnerships, and investigate a separate Health Infrastructure Entity to manage and build physical and digital assets.
However, it was not a simple matter of expecting the private sector to jump in and fill the gaps, she warned.
"When you actually work well together you can get a lot of stuff done, but it still requires that investment. So you can't rely on the private sector to fund it, you actually need to have the government investing in technology in the first place."
Creating partnerships with private IT companies was "not about privatisation of the health sector", Jensen said.
Rather, it was about utilising their expertise and workforce to build up public capacity, and also give developers the platform to create products, which could have an international market.
"So you get a really good health system with digital infrastructure in the background, as well as moving forward with your economy. So it's a real win/win in my view."
But Fitzsimons cautioned against replacing in-house expertise with outside consultants.
"Privatisation of the IT systems within hospitals is not the answer.
"We have dedicated and experienced data professionals working within our hospitals now, who know and understand these applications.
"We need to invest in them and value them, instead of cutting their jobs."
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