Health agency's 'excessive' comms team unlikely to be reduced by much as restructure begins

Former Te Whatu Ora chair Rob Campbell says the health agency employs an excessive number of comms staff. (Image: Guy Body)

Cécile Meier

Tue, 15 Aug 2023

The health system might be short of thousands of nurses and doctors, but it has plenty of highly paid communications staff, according to newly released data. The data, obtained after Ombudsman intervention nine months after BusinessDesk requested it, reveals that one-third of the 154-strong Te Whatu Ora comms team earned more than $100,000 a year, including 13 staff getting paid more than $150,000 a year and four earning over $200,000. On top of that, the health agency had 38 contractors working in its national office comms team, ear...

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