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 yesterday in the middle of drastic cost-cutting steps.

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

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

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

The most recent 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 nationwide quango tasked with managing the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting technique.

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

NHS England said in a declaration: ‘As part of the need to make best possible usage of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly 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 employees 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, in the middle of 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 operating officer Emily Lawson (best) are amongst the current 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 stated: ‘We understand that today’s news is unsettling for our personnel, and we have significant difficulties and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a shift team in location to start on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this period.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last number of weeks, I have actually said I think the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to best assistance regional NHS systems and suppliers to provide for patients and drive the federal 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, delivering significant changes in our relationship with DHSC to remove duplication’.

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

‘I’ve enjoyed dealing with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their skill and concentrate on providing improvement for patients and personnel.

‘We are going into a period of crucial transformation for our NHS. ‘With a stronger relationship in 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 obstacle.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England employed simply under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, including permanent, temporary 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 also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS nationwide medical director, revealed recently he would step down this summer

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

‘The variety 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 limitless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a stressful possibility has actually now become more like a nightmare.

‘Fixing a damaged NHS requires an appropriate plan, with central bodies resourced and managed effectively so local services are supported.

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

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These modifications are happening at a scale and pace not anticipated to start with, however offered the substantial 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 currently provided substantial cost savings and assisted to provide enhancements in performance, but national bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

‘These modifications represent the most significant improving of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a years. It is very important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this transformation as the immediate next actions become clearer, so that an optimum operating design can be produced.

‘This must be about doing things in a different way for the benefit of regional neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, along with for of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet again anticipated to show the severe obstacles they deal with.’

Wes Streeting