Jitters over city health jobs

Uncertainty hangs over 17 Hamilton jobs under Health Ministry plans to axe 130 positions by July next year.

It is not yet known whether Hamilton jobs are affected.

The move comes as new figures show the extent of job losses within the public service. Nearly 1500 jobs have gone since December 2008, with the Health Ministry among the hardest hit. Before yesterday's announcement, its numbers had already been trimmed by 200.

Although the majority of health jobs axed are expected to be in Wellington, where 85 per cent of staff are based, regions such as Waikato may be vulnerable under the new proposal.

Director-General of Health Stephen McKernan said though the proposal would change some roles and disestablish others, exact numbers would not be known until ministry staff had the opportunity to provide feedback and the structure was finalised around mid-to-late May.

Inland Revenue has taken the biggest hit in government job cuts, with nearly 500 jobs disappearing in the last 12 months.

But the figures reveal the public service is also struggling to fill new "frontline" positions under its promise to shift money from the "back office" to workers at the coal face – 540 new frontline jobs were created at agencies including Child, Youth and Family and Corrections, but they were outnumbered by 629 vacancies.

State Services Minister Tony Ryall said National had campaigned to cap the size of the bureaucracy and it had done that. He blamed "rampant" growth in the public service over the previous nine years for the need for cuts, after it grew at a rate of 1800 jobs a year during that period.

"Under Labour's trend there would be 2700 more public servant positions than there are now," Mr Ryall said.

"At an estimated average cost of $63,000 for a public service salary, that's around $170 million in staff costs saved and available for reinvestment in frontline services."

But Labour's health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson said the latest cut backs at the Health Ministry would have an impact on frontline services.

While it cut ministry numbers, the Government was poised to hire potentially hundreds more consultants and contract staff for its new National Health Board, she said

The Public Service Association said 809 staff had been made redundant, 565 more jobs were taken off the books and 106 staff left without being replaced under the beIt tightening.

Its own monitoring showed a further 1000 jobs had been axed in the wider state sector since last year.

National secretary Brenda Pilott said the union was concerned about the impact on service to the public.

-with Fairfax

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