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 amidst drastic cost-cutting measures.

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, provide better worth for taxpayers and free-up money 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 chief executive Amanda Pritchard and nationwide 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 nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with overseeing the daily running of the health service and its long-term technique.

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

NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the need to make best possible usage of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly reduced and could see the size of the centre reduction by around half.’

The deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease of about 4,000 to 6,000 workers at NHS England over the past 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, in the middle of 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 chief running officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the newest bosses 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 improving of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care’.

He said: ‘We understand that today’s news is unsettling for our staff, and we have considerable obstacles and changes ahead.’We intend to have a transition team in location to begin on the 1st April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard stated in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last couple 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 local NHS systems and suppliers to provide for patients and drive the government’s reform top priorities.’

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

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

‘I’ve taken pleasure in working with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and concentrate on delivering improvement for clients and staff.

‘We are getting in a period of crucial improvement for our NHS. ‘With a stronger relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and seriousness required to satisfy the scale of the obstacle.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England employed simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, consisting of irreversible, short-term 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 financial officer Julian Kelly has likewise included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be not surprisingly concerned about this unexpected change of direction.

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

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

‘Fixing a broken NHS requires a proper plan, with central bodies resourced and handled effectively so regional services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a threat of creating a further, more complex mess and might eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who require it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, primary executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These changes are occurring at a scale and pace not expected to begin with, but given the huge savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes good sense to reduce areas of duplication at a and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually already provided considerable savings and assisted to deliver enhancements in efficiency, however nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

‘These modifications represent the biggest improving of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a decade. It is very important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this change as the immediate next actions become clearer, so that an optimal operating model can be developed.

‘This must have to do with doing things in a different way for the benefit of local neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, along with for staff ahead of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet once again expected to reveal the severe difficulties they deal with.’

Wes Streeting