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 unveiled yesterday amidst extreme cost-cutting measures.

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

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

Three more NHS England board members the other day announced they will give up at the end of this month, following the current resignations of primary executive Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The current leaders to sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief monetary officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with supervising the day to day running of the health service and its long-term strategy.

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

NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the need to make finest possible usage of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically lowered and could see the size of the centre decline by around half.’

The deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 workers at NHS England over the previous 2 years and about 800 at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, in the middle of plans to cut personnel 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 operating officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are among the latest managers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim chief executive at the start of April, will establish a shift team within NHS England to ‘lead the radical reduction and reshaping of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care’.

He said: ‘We understand that today’s news is upsetting for our personnel, and we have substantial obstacles and changes ahead.’We intend to have a transition group in place to begin on the first April 2025 to help 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 said I believe the time is right for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance local NHS systems and providers to deliver for clients and drive the federal government’s reform concerns.’

She said Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, delivering significant changes in our relationship with DHSC to remove duplication’.

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

‘I have actually taken pleasure in working with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and concentrate on delivering enhancement for patients and staff.

‘We are going into a period of crucial improvement for our NHS. ‘With a more powerful relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will work together with the speed and urgency required to fulfill the scale of the challenge.’

As of June last year, NHS England employed simply under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, including irreversible, short-term and consultancy. The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, including 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 likewise added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, announced recently he would step down this summer

UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: ‘Staff will be not surprisingly worried about this abrupt change of direction.

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

‘Em ployees there have actually already been through the mill with endless rounds of reorganisation. What was already a demanding prospect has now become more like a headache.

‘Fixing a damaged NHS needs a proper plan, with central bodies resourced and managed successfully so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of developing an even more, more complicated mess and might eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who need it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These modifications are occurring at a scale and pace not anticipated to start with, however offered the big cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes good sense to decrease areas of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently provided significant savings and assisted to provide enhancements in performance, however nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

‘These modifications represent the greatest reshaping of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a decade. It is essential that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that an optimal operating model can be created.

‘This need to have to do with doing things in a different way for the advantage of local neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of annual study results on Thursday that are yet again expected to show the severe challenges they face.’

Wes Streeting