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 drastic cost-cutting steps.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is intended at removing duplication across the organisations after their labor forces swelled throughout 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 revealed they will quit 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 sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary monetary officer, Emily Lawson, the chief running officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the nationwide quango tasked with managing the everyday running of the health service and its long-lasting technique.

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to provide it greater political self-reliance however Mr Streeting is eager to regain tighter control from within his Department.

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

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, amid strategies 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and primary operating officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the most recent managers to join the exodus

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

He said: ‘We know that today’s news is unsettling for our staff, and we have substantial difficulties and changes ahead.’We intend to have a transition team 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 number of weeks, I have stated I think the time is best for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support regional NHS systems and service providers to deliver for patients and drive the government’s reform priorities.’

She stated Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, delivering considerable modifications in our relationship with DHSC to eradicate duplication’.

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

‘I have actually delighted in working with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their skill and concentrate on delivering improvement for clients and staff.

‘We are getting in a period of vital transformation 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 meet the scale of the challenge.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England employed just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, consisting of long-term, temporary and consultancy. The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, consisting of the UK Health Security Agency. These are both around 30 percent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has likewise added his name to from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS nationwide 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 unexpected modification of instructions.

‘The variety of redundancies being looked for at NHS England has actually trebled in simply a matter of weeks.

‘Em ployees there have currently been through the mill with endless rounds of reorganisation. What was already a difficult prospect has now ended up being more like a nightmare.

‘Fixing a damaged NHS needs a correct plan, with main bodies resourced and handled successfully so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a threat of developing a further, more complicated mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who require it most, the clients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These modifications are happening at a scale and speed not prepared for to begin with, but offered the huge cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes good sense to reduce areas of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually currently provided substantial cost savings and assisted to deliver improvements in performance, but national bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a years. It is very important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are involved in this transformation as the instant next actions end up being clearer, so that an optimum operating model can be developed.

‘This need to be about doing things differently for the benefit of regional neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, in addition to for personnel ahead of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet once again expected to reveal the extreme difficulties they deal with.’

Wes Streeting