Te Whatu Ora – Health NZ

Wage pressures and workforce shortages are continuing to cause headaches for independent pharmacies.

A Te Whatu Ora 2023/2024 savings target of $1-2 billion highlighted during a parliamentary select committee hearing in February was a typo according to the health agency which has since corrected the error

Health New Zealand denies its guidance to managers to review roles is a hiring freeze, saying it is still recruiting to fill shortages

A long-serving health official says the increase in bureaucracy at Te Whatu Ora is “out of control”, despite the rest of the public service facing drastic cutbacks

An error by Te Whatu Ora in calculating pharmacy payments left 186 pharmacies out of pocket by a combined total of $775,000 and all other pharmacies were overpaid by the same amount.

Graduate pharmacists starting work in rural areas have two weeks left to apply for bonding payments worth nearly $20,000 if they continue to work in those areas for the first three to five years of their career.

Some pharmacist vaccinators are concerned Te Whatu Ora is not doing enough to protect their privacy after a recent data breach.

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand’s error in calculating pharmacy payments has left 186 pharmacies out of pocket by a combined total of $775,000 and all other pharmacies were overpaid by the same amount

Graduate pharmacists starting work in rural areas have six weeks to apply for bonding payments worth nearly $20,000 if they continue to work in those areas for the first three to five years of their career

Pharmacy owners say the sector needs a greater funding increase than previous years to stay sustainable, but they are not hopeful that the 2024 National Annual Agreement Review will achieve this