These staff members, based in payroll and accounts payable, have been affected by the state-wide move to Health Support Services.

Two of the eight original employees will still be based in Inverell.

Hunter New England Health Human Resources acting director Peter Reay said the changes came into effect on Tuesday.

The new centres which will look after finance processing, purchasing, recruitment, accounts payable and payroll across NSW are based in Newcastle and Parramatta.

“We have been doing everything in our capacity to support staff during this transition, including the option of relocation packages to the newly established Health Support Services Centre in Newcastle,” Mr Reay said.

“We acknowledge our responsibility to employees who are displaced, and these employees have been offered priority selection for employment in any suitable vacant position across the health service, in addition to re-training opportunities.”

Mr Reay said the new Health Support Services Centre had been established to manage the delivery of shared corporate and business services across the NSW health system.

“Streamlining these administrative services enables us to invest savings into local, frontline health care – such as the provision of specialist outreach clinics for the Inverell community, which will commence in the near future.”