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 in the middle of extreme cost-cutting procedures.

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, provide much better value for taxpayers and free-up money 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 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 delivery 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-term strategy.

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

NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the need to make finest possible use of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically minimized and could see the size of the centre reduction 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 two 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 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 primary operating officer Emily Lawson (right) are among the current employers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become 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 stated: ‘We understand that today’s news is disturbing for our personnel, and we have substantial obstacles and changes ahead.’We intend to have a shift team in location to start on the first April 2025 to assist lead us through this period.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last couple of weeks, I have actually said I believe the time is best for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to best assistance local NHS systems and providers to deliver 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, providing significant modifications in our relationship with DHSC to eradicate duplication’.

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

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

‘We are getting in a period of critical improvement for our NHS. ‘With a stronger relationship 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 difficulty.’

As of June last year, NHS England utilized just under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, consisting of permanent, 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 percent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

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

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

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

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

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of developing an even more, more complex mess and might eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who require it most, the clients.’

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

‘NHS England has actually already delivered substantial cost savings and assisted to provide improvements in efficiency, however national bodies and regional NHS leaders know that more is needed this year.

‘These modifications represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a decade. It is essential that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this change as the immediate next steps become clearer, so that a maximum operating model can be produced.

‘This need to be about doing things in a different way for the advantage of local communities as both patients and taxpayers, along with for personnel ahead of annual study results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to show the extreme difficulties they deal with.’

Wes Streeting