Wes Streeting Cuts NHS HQ Staff Numbers In Half

Plans to cut personnel numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care were unveiled yesterday amid drastic cost-cutting measures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is targeted at removing duplication throughout the organisations after their labor forces swelled throughout the pandemic.

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

Three more NHS England board members the other day revealed they will stop at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of chief executive Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

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

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

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to offer it higher 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 best possible usage of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically lowered and might see the size of the centre reduction 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 past 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, amidst 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and chief operating officer Emily Lawson (best) are among the most recent employers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will set up a transition group within NHS England to ‘lead the extreme decrease 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 significant challenges and changes ahead.’We intend to have a shift group in location to start on the 1st April 2025 to assist lead us through this period.’

Ms Pritchard stated 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 radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance regional NHS systems and companies to deliver for clients and drive the government’s reform top priorities.’

She said Mr Streeting had asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, providing significant modifications in our relationship with DHSC to get rid of duplication’.

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

‘I’ve delighted in dealing with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their ability and focus on providing enhancement for patients and staff.

‘We are going into a duration of vital change for our NHS. ‘With a more powerful relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will work together with the speed and urgency required to satisfy the scale of the obstacle.’

As of June in 2015, NHS England employed just under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, including long-term, 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 percent more than in January 2020.

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

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS nationwide medical director, announced last week he would step down this summer season

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be not surprisingly concerned about this unexpected 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 currently been through the mill with unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was already a difficult prospect has actually now ended up being 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 complex mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who require it most, the clients.’

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These changes are happening at a scale and pace not prepared for to start with, however provided the huge cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to lower locations of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually already provided substantial cost savings and helped to deliver improvements in productivity, but national bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the greatest reshaping of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a years. It is essential that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are involved in this transformation as the instant next steps become clearer, so that a maximum operating model can be produced.

‘This must have to do with doing things differently for the benefit of regional communities as both patients and taxpayers, in addition to for personnel ahead of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet again to reveal the extreme challenges they face.’

Wes Streeting