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 amid extreme cost-cutting measures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is intended at eliminating duplication throughout the organisations after their labor forces swelled during the pandemic.

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

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

The latest leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating 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 day to day running of the health service and its long-term technique.

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

NHS England stated in a declaration: ‘As part of the need to make best possible usage of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically minimized and might see the size of the by around half.’

The deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 workers at NHS England over the previous two 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 running officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are among the newest managers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim chief executive 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 know that today’s news is unsettling for our staff, and we have substantial difficulties and modifications ahead.’We intend to have a transition group in place to start on the 1st April 2025 to assist lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard stated in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last number of weeks, I have actually said I believe the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to best support local NHS systems and companies to provide for patients and drive the government’s reform top priorities.’

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

Mr Streeting stated: ‘I ‘d like 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 enjoyed working 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 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 interact with the speed and urgency needed to meet the scale of the challenge.’

As of June in 2015, NHS England employed simply under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, consisting of irreversible, 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 monetary officer Julian Kelly has also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

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

‘The variety of redundancies being looked for at NHS England has trebled in simply 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 ended up being more like a nightmare.

‘Fixing a damaged NHS requires a proper strategy, with central bodies resourced and managed efficiently so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a threat of creating a further, more complex mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would let down the very individuals who need it most, the clients.’

Matthew Taylor, primary executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These modifications are occurring at a scale and rate not prepared for to start with, but provided the substantial savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes 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 delivered substantial cost savings and assisted to provide enhancements in performance, but national bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the greatest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is essential that local NHS organisations and other bodies are involved in this improvement as the instant next actions end up being clearer, so that an optimal operating design can be created.

‘This should be about doing things differently for the advantage of local communities as both patients and taxpayers, in addition to for personnel ahead of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet once again expected to show the extreme challenges they deal with.’

Wes Streeting