Wes Streeting Cuts NHS HQ Staff Numbers In Half

Plans to cut staff numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care were revealed the other day amidst extreme cost-cutting measures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is aimed at removing duplication across the organisations after their workforces swelled throughout the pandemic.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, deliver better worth for taxpayers and free-up cash for the frontline.

Three more NHS England board members yesterday revealed they will give up at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of president Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The latest leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief running officer, and Steve Russell, the chief shipment officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango tasked with supervising the everyday running of the health service and its long-term method.

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to give it higher political independence however Mr Streeting is eager to restore tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the requirement to make best possible use of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly minimized and might see the size of the centre decrease by around half.’

The deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease of about 4,000 to 6,000 staff members at NHS England over the past two years and about 800 at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, amid plans to cut staff numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health

Former NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard will step down from her position at the end of this month

NHS England chief delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and primary running officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are amongst the current bosses to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim president at the start of April, will set up a transition group within NHS England to ‘lead the extreme decrease and improving of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care’.

He said: ‘We understand that today’s news is unsettling for our staff, and we have significant challenges and modifications ahead.’We intend to have a shift group in place to start on the first April 2025 to assist lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last couple of weeks, I have actually stated I think the time is ideal for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to best support regional NHS systems and service providers to deliver for patients and drive the government’s reform priorities.’

She said Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, providing substantial modifications in our relationship with DHSC to eliminate duplication’.

Mr Streeting stated: ‘I ‘d like to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their devotion as public servants, and their operate in specific assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I’ve taken pleasure in working with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their ability and focus on delivering improvement for clients and personnel.

‘We are entering a period of important improvement for our NHS. ‘With a stronger relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and seriousness needed to satisfy the scale of the difficulty.’

As of June last year, NHS England used simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, including permanent, short-term and . The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, consisting of the UK Health Security Agency. These are both around 30 per cent more than in January 2020.

NHS England primary financial officer Julian Kelly has also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, revealed recently he would step down this summertime

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be understandably concerned about this sudden modification of instructions.

‘The number of redundancies being sought at NHS England has actually trebled in just a matter of weeks.

‘Em ployees there have actually currently been through the mill with unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a demanding prospect has now ended up being more like a problem.

‘Fixing a broken NHS requires a correct strategy, with main bodies resourced and handled successfully so regional services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing a further, more complicated mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who need it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These changes are occurring at a scale and rate not anticipated to start with, however provided the substantial cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to minimize areas of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently delivered significant cost savings and helped to deliver enhancements in performance, but national bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the biggest improving of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is very important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are involved in this transformation as the immediate next steps end up being clearer, so that a maximum operating model can be produced.

‘This must be about doing things differently for the benefit of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of annual study results on Thursday that are yet once again expected to reveal the extreme challenges they deal with.’

Wes Streeting