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 in the middle of drastic cost-cutting procedures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is focused on getting rid of duplication throughout the organisations after their workforces swelled throughout 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 announced they will quit at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of chief executive Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The most current leaders to sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary financial 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 developed by the Tories in 2013 to give it higher political independence however Mr Streeting is keen to restore tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the requirement to make finest possible use of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly reduced 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 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 plans to cut personnel 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 running officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the current employers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim president at the start of April, will set up a shift team 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 disturbing for our personnel, and we have considerable difficulties and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a shift group in place to begin on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this period.’

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

She stated Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, providing significant 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 commitment as public servants, and their operate in particular assisting guide the NHS through the pandemic.

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

‘We are going into a period of critical change 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 required to satisfy the scale of the difficulty.’

As of June last year, NHS England utilized simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, including permanent, short-lived 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 per cent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually likewise included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, revealed recently he would step down this summertime

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be understandably concerned about this abrupt change of direction.

‘The number of redundancies being looked for at NHS England has trebled in just a matter of weeks.

‘Em ployees there have currently been through the mill with limitless rounds of reorganisation. What was already a demanding prospect has now become more like a problem.

‘Fixing a damaged NHS needs a proper strategy, with central bodies resourced and handled successfully so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing an even more, more complex 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 expected to begin with, but offered the huge cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes good sense to lower areas of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently delivered considerable cost savings and helped to deliver improvements in performance, however nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

‘These changes represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is necessary that local NHS organisations and other bodies are involved in this change as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be created.

‘This should have to do with doing things in a different way for the benefit of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, in addition to for staff ahead of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to show the extreme obstacles they face.’

Wes Streeting