The Health and Disability Commission lost nearly 10 percent of its funding in this year's Budget. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The Health and Disability Commission cannot yet confirm whether it will have to make any staff redundant after losing nearly 10 percent of its funding in this year's Budget.
A spokesperson for the consumer health watchdog said the total operating budget was $1.9 million less than in previous years.
"This is due to the end of time-limited funding ($2.9m) that was provided in 2021 and extended for 2024/25."
That has been "partly offset" by an extra one-off $1m for the 2025/26 year to help the HDC clear a backlog of complaints.
When asked whether any jobs would be lost as a result, the commission said no decisions had been made.
"We are not in a position to comment any further until we have completed engagement with our staff.
"We remain committed to fulfilling our critical function to uphold people's rights and manage complaints."
The $2.9m in time-limited funding was introduced by the Labour Government in 2021, to ensure the HDC had capacity to protect the rights of patients using assisted dying services.
The new government axed the funding in its 2024 Budget, but subsequently extended it for another year.
According to its 2024 annual report, the number of complaints to the HDC increased 52 percent over five years.
The 3628 complaints received by HDC in 2023/24 was the highest number of complaints ever received in a single year, which placed significant pressure and led to delays in resolving some of them.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
