Eight functions proposed for data and digital

eHealthNews.nz: National Systems & Strategy

Monday, 8 May 2023

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NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The proposed new structure for Te Whatu Ora data and digital creates eight national functions and establishes more than 200 new roles.

Consultation is underway on the data and digital proposal, which has eight directors sitting under the chief data and digital, Leigh Donoghue.

These cover; cyber security, integration, business support, ICT, sector digital channels, strategy and investment, clinical informatics, and data services and all but two of these leads have been appointed.

Under those sit more than 40 tier 4 level roles and 125 at tier 5. Around 70 new tier 6 roles would also be created, while others are mapped under new managers and tier 7 roles are not included in the charts.

The proposal includes plans to disestablish around 140 full time positions, including chief information officer and chief digital officer roles at what were formerly DHBs, while some positions move into other business units.

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“To move from our current operating model to a single model requires a significant level of change,” the consultation document says.

The long-term goal is to reduce reliance on contractors and invest in development of Te Whatu Ora staff.

The new structure for cyber security, led by national chief information security officer Sonny Taite, includes a national security operations centre (SOC) and team.

The ICT team, led by James Allison, is responsible for national ITSM and service desk functions, as well as all core infrastructure, integration platforms, API gateways, networks, telephony, cloud and storage.

The sector digital channels team “acts as a change agent for nationally enabled services” and is responsible for national external consumer facing applications and engagement. Michael Dreyer is director sector digital channels.

The strategy and investment team, led by Darren Douglass, will be responsible for IT procurement, supplier relationship management, and contract management, as well as strategy and planning.

The clinical informatics team sits under the new national chief clinical informatics officer Lara Hopley. The proposed structure has four clinical informatics officers in the northern region, one in Te Manawa Taki, one in central and one in Te Waipounamu.

The integration team focus is on “supporting and continuously improving existing and new applications to optimise workflow” and the structure involves four new regional managers and teams. The director of integration has not yet been appointed.

The business support team, led by George Smith, is “critical to orchestrating the overall direction and resourcing of data and digital to run efficiently and effectively as a collective”, the document says.

The data services team will be responsible for data management, including data governance, data quality and data strategy, as well as platform development. The director of data services position is not yet filled.

The future operating model proposal is for data and digital is to move to an integrated business service model in which data and digital capabilities will be embedded across Te Whatu Ora.

This would involve a shift toward decentralisation of some data and digital services and more business input and accountability for data and digital capability. Also a move to be more responsive to changing customer needs and health system priorities.

Certain capabilities will sit at a national, regional and local level. New technology assessment and selection of digital innovation initiatives to scale would sit at a national level, while resource management and access management would sit regionally and human resources locally.

The consultation runs until 12 May, and a final decision document is due to be released on 15 June, and implementation from 16 June 2023 onwards.

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