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A group of unions has written to Health NZ asking for redundancies, cuts and cost savings to be paused until they have had an opportunity to comment on the agency's overspend.
Seven health unions have asked the agency's chief executive Margie Apa for information about the monthly $147 million overspend, after the agency forecast a $1.7 billion dollar deficit by the end of the financial year.
The unions are concerned the reason for the overspend is not clear and may be a result of an accounting error, or the effect of pay equity payments.
In the letter sent on Monday and made public today, the unions said they received a briefing from Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy and Apa on 19 September about the agency running over budget.
"We were also told that because of this overspend, the organisation intended to undertake a programme of cuts and savings, including defunding programmes and projects and making positions redundant," they wrote.
"We have not received any detailed financial information from the organisation to understand how or why there is a budget overspend. We are concerned the overspend may be a result of an accounting error, or be the effect of Holidays Act or Pay Equity payments moving through the system."
The unions have requested the financial information as required by the Employment Relations Act and asked for confirmation by 5pm tonight that Health NZ's change programme is paused.
"Until such time as we have been provided the information on the $147 million overspend, and the opportunity to make comment on this information, any subsequent decisions about the allocations of redundancies, cuts and cost savings should be paused," they said.
"As a requirement of consultation, we must be provided an opportunity to provide informed comment on the lists of projects, positions and programmes each directorate is proposing to terminate, before the decision is made."
National secretary for APEX and the Resident Doctors Association, Deborah Powell, said the unions shared concerns about the lack of transparency over the budget situation.
"Our concerns about what is going on with this alleged budget situation is universal. We have all indepently come to the conclusion that there is something deeply wrong with what we're being told, including the fact that Te Whatu Ora to date has been unable to substantiate in any real terms what the deficit is and why," Powell said.
"Where is this budget blowout, show us actually where it's coming from as opposed to potentially just a lack of income from the government."
The union's letter stated that they needed an opportunity to comment on any distribution of cuts or savings targets.
They said last week unions at Kahui Kokiri received a briefing on part of a savings programme which is in the process of being implemented across Te Whatu Ora.
This included incentivised resignations with severance pay for administration staff, a $29m savings target for public health, a $100m savings target for data and digital and a headcount reduction in Māori Health from 368 to 250 employees.
"This must be the first step in any process of change within Te Whatu Ora," the unions wrote.
"We would expect that if any overspend is established, that employees and unions are invited to give suggestions on how voluntary cost savings could be achieved within the organisation."
Health NZ has been approached for comment.
Powell said the unions had not yet had a response from the agency.
"We'll be pursuing Te Whatu Ora for an answer and for genuine engagement, if necessary we'll move to legal action on this," she said.
"The people of New Zealand are entitled to know, this is a public health system and there is a real concern amongst the unions that this is simply a way of reducing funding to the public health system and that will affect all of us so we are going to make a stand on this."
