Source: PSA
The PSA is calling on Health NZ to conduct an urgent review after a widespread failure in its payroll system left around 4,000 Waikato hospital and health workers without pay yesterday.
The payroll glitch affected roughly half the Waikato health workforce. For workers living pay cheque to pay cheque, the impact was immediate and real. One PSA member was unable to pay their rent.
“Workers turned up and did their jobs, caring for patients, keeping hospitals running, and they deserved to be paid on time. A payroll failure of this scale is not a minor inconvenience, it causes real hardship,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
Health NZ has apologised to staff and said the failure was a result of ‘an error in the rostering system used to calculate pays’. Staff would be paid tonight.
“Apologies are not enough; Health NZ must urgently get to the bottom of what happened here and make sure it never happens again. What we do know is the Government’s spending cuts and axing of health workers do not help.
“This is not an isolated incident,” said Fitzsimons. “IT failures have become a recurring feature of our public health system and that is no accident. Just last week a critical medical imaging system was down for two hours across Auckland and Northland hospitals delaying results for clinicians.
“The PSA has repeatedly warned that cuts to Health New Zealand’s Digital Services workforce would make IT failures more likely and harder to fix.
“Health NZ has shed around 23% of its IT workforce, more than 500 staff to meet the Government’s spending cuts. On top of that some 2,800 health workers, including critical clerical and admin workers, have lost their jobs.
“Doing this while the system is already under strain is reckless. Yesterday’s payroll failure is a direct consequence of running a health system without the resources it needs,” said Fitzsimons.
The PSA is calling on Health Minister Simeon Brown and Health NZ to urgently review the state of the health system’s digital infrastructure and to halt further cuts to the Digital Services workforce until a full and independent assessment of IT risk has been completed.
“Workers and patients cannot afford for the Government to keep ignoring the warning signs. It’s time for the Health Minister to act,” said Fitzsimons.
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
