Tas Health restructures IT systems, staff
The Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services is in the process of changing its staff structure as part of a planned IT systems restructure that aims to improve services to patients and clients.
(Peeling cross image by Andreas Levers, CC BY 2.0)
According to acting secretary Greg Johannes, the restructure mainly affects the department's care and business solutions branch, which is responsible for project delivery and consultancy services.
The department employed 67 staff at the beginning of last month, but the restructure will see this figure reduce to up to 42 full-time positions.
"It's also important to bear in mind that some staff will be able to be transferred, and others may leave voluntarily — so the final number of impacted staff is still to be determined," Johannes said.
"We anticipate that some current staff will not have a position in the new structure, and we will work hard to redeploy staff across the State Service as quickly as possible."
The structure is in response to the need to re-examine how IT and staff resources are used.
"There are a number of important national reforms being rolled out, and how we use information technology to enable e-health will be a key part of making sure the reforms are successful.
"By its nature, information technology has to be cutting edge and innovative — so the staff structures we use should mirror that."
Staff and unions have been in discussions with the Department of Health, and consultation is expected to continue over the coming weeks.