Concern that telehealth cuts will reduce access to care

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

A proposal to cut telehealth roles at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora would reduce access to virtual healthcare, increasing wait times and delaying vital diagnosis and treatment, says the country's largest union.

Health NZ is proposing to slash its telehealth workforce despite the organisation’s aim to have 10 percent of care delivered digitally by June 2025 and the new Health Minister’s stated aim of using more telehealth.

Simeon Brown told eHealthNews he expects to see “substantial progress” in the use of telehealth and that digital services and telehealth are key enablers for achieving better health outcomes for New Zealanders by bringing consultations to patients. 

Health NZ’s Quarterly Performance Report for April-June 2024 says “the goal is for each district to deliver at least 10 per cent of care through digital channels by quarter four 2024/25.”

However, the Public Service Association (PSA) Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi says that under the  proposed restructures of the organisation’s Data and Digital, and Planning, Funding and Outcomes teams, there would be a loss of 14 telehealth roles leaving only three full time roles remaining, down from 17.

Roles proposed to be cut include telehealth co-ordinators and telehealth facilitators.

PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says these cuts would reduce access to virtual healthcare, increasing wait times and delaying vital diagnosis and treatment.

“Telehealth data and digital staff provide critical technical support to clinicians delivering healthcare services virtually, she says.

The proposed restructures are part of a savings drive at Health NZ, which is consulting on whether to reduce the number of digital services roles by 47 percent.

"Cutting telehealth is not going to help Minister Brown’s intention to embrace technology and open new ways for patients to access healthcare,” Fitzsimons says.

Chair of the NZ Telehealth Forum (NZTF) Ruth Large says there is a lack of understanding of the roles currently supporting telehealth across the health sector or a national strategy to support the use of digital channels.

She says that telehealth roles are often informal or embedded in other positions, making them difficult to track. 

"We do not know how these changes will affect the delivery of telehealth because we do not have a good stocktake on what those people are doing and who they are,” Large explains.

The loss of other data and digital staff will also impact the delivery of telehealth as they support the critical systems that enable the delivery of care online.

"If you do not have electronic prescribing available, or the ability to order tests electronically, it is very difficult to provide a safe telehealth service: all of these systems need to interconnect,” she explains.

The 2023 NZ Telehealth Stocktake showed the use of telehealth in public hospitals was going backwards and there was a significant divide in resourcing across the country. 

The stocktake found the number of telehealth leadership positions had already been reduced, particularly telehealth programme managers, and that some areas had no dedicated leadership role.

The stocktake is a NZTF initiative, but the Forum lost its funding from Health NZ last year.

Heath NZ acting chief information technology officer Darren Douglass says the agency recognises the value of telehealth “and the important role the service plays in ensuring New Zealanders have timely access to health care”.

“While changes are proposed, we remain committed to the ongoing management of telehealth services and the current work programme will continue.”

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