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 the other day amidst drastic cost-cutting steps.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is targeted at getting rid of duplication throughout the organisations after their labor forces swelled throughout the pandemic.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, deliver better value 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 current resignations of chief executive Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The latest 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 delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with managing the everyday running of the health service and its long-term method.

It was established by the Tories in 2013 to give it higher political independence but Mr Streeting is eager to regain tighter from within his Department.

NHS England stated 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 drastically minimized and could see the size of the centre decrease by around half.’

The much deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease of about 4,000 to 6,000 employees 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 seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, amidst strategies 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 primary running officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are among the newest managers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim president at the start of April, will set up a transition 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 staff, and we have substantial obstacles and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a transition team in place to start on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this period.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to staff, 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 finest support regional NHS systems and service providers to provide for patients and drive the government’s reform concerns.’

She said Mr Streeting had 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 ‘d like to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their commitment as public servants, and their work in specific helping guide the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I have actually enjoyed dealing with each of them over the last eight months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and focus on providing enhancement for patients and staff.

‘We are going into a duration 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 seriousness needed to fulfill the scale of the difficulty.’

Since June last year, NHS England utilized just under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, consisting of long-term, momentary 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 likewise included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

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

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

‘Em ployees there have actually already been through the mill with limitless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a difficult possibility has now ended up being more like a headache.

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

‘Rushing through cuts brings a danger of developing a further, more complex mess and might eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who need it most, the clients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These changes are happening at a scale and speed not expected to start with, but given the huge cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes good sense to lower areas of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually already provided significant savings and assisted to deliver enhancements in efficiency, but national bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a decade. It is 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 produced.

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

Wes Streeting