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 revealed yesterday in the middle of extreme cost-cutting measures.

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

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

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

The most recent leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief monetary 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 managing the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting method.

It was established by the Tories in 2013 to offer it greater political self-reliance however Mr Streeting is eager to regain 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 radically 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 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 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 delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and primary operating officer Emily Lawson (right) are among the current managers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim chief executive at the start of April, will establish a transition team 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 significant challenges and changes ahead.’We aim to have a transition team in place to begin on the 1st 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 stated I believe the time is best for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to best support regional NHS systems and suppliers to provide for clients and drive the federal government’s reform priorities.’

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

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

‘I’ve delighted in working with each of them over the last eight months and I’ve been impressed by their skill and concentrate on providing improvement for clients and personnel.

‘We are entering a duration of crucial improvement 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 needed to fulfill the scale of the challenge.’

Since June in 2015, employed just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, including irreversible, short-lived 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 chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, revealed last week he would step down this summer

UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: ‘Staff will be understandably concerned about this unexpected modification of direction.

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

‘Em ployees there have already been through the mill with unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was already a stressful possibility has actually now ended up being more like a nightmare.

‘Fixing a broken NHS requires a correct plan, with central bodies resourced and handled efficiently so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a danger of producing a further, more complicated mess and could ultimately 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 changes are occurring at a scale and rate not anticipated to begin with, but offered the huge cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes sense to minimize locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually currently delivered substantial savings and assisted to provide improvements in performance, but national bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

‘These changes represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a decade. It is necessary that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the instant next steps become clearer, so that an optimal operating model can be developed.

‘This must be about doing things differently for the advantage of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet again expected to reveal the extreme obstacles they face.’

Wes Streeting