There's questions over how frontline work can be done, as Health New Zealand offers voluntary redundancies.

The PSA says these cuts are to jobs in admin, procurement, policy, communications, information, research and monitoring.

It says they come on top of a hiring freeze of backroom staff in June, that left hundreds of roles unfilled.

Nurses Organisation chief executive Paul Goulter says cutting too deep behind the scenes has a knock-on effect up front.

"That's the feedback we've been getting all day, with nurses saying - who's going to do that work? And if it's us, who's going to do the rest of the work we have to leave behind?"

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