On Thursday, staff were told that 126 positions would be cut and another 142 positions would remain unfilled, bringing the total number of positions to be cut to 268.
The total number of employees working at the time of Te Whatu Ora's establishment was 1,004.
Due to budget cuts, that number was reduced to 756 during the first round of restructuring, and now that number has dropped to 482, which is more than half.
Ashok Shankar, head of PSA's national health sector, said this was the team that financed, monitored and commissioned health services, including managing thousands of contracts within the sector.
A member of the commissioning team, who RNZ declined to name, said it had been a tough time.
“I think it’s fair to say that we’re all feeling tired after all the changes we’ve been through over the last two years, and particularly because many staff have been working extremely hard during Covid to support the public health response. It’s just been a tough four years for us.”
Shankar said the cuts were “barbaric”, that employees were “shocked” and that it would certainly lead to cuts in services.
The distinction between the front line and the back line was “a political creation to give the community the feeling that there are all these unnecessary people being paid for doing nothing”.
“In health care, there is no front line and back line. It is a team and the team delivers health care,” he said.
“You don't have people in the background who are not essential. They ensure that the people who actually come into contact with the patient have all the resources to actually provide care.
“Without them, the clinical professionals on the front lines cannot do their work.”
A spokesperson for Te Whatu Ora said: “Health New Zealand continues to work hard within the organisation to ensure we stay within our budget and provide New Zealanders with easier and faster access to health care.”
Apart from some leadership changes, there was no formal change process underway at this stage for commissioning.