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 amid extreme 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 likewise looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, deliver much better worth for taxpayers and free-up cash for the frontline.

Three more NHS England board members yesterday revealed 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 sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief 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 nationwide 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 give it greater political self-reliance but Mr Streeting is eager to restore tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England said 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 significantly minimized and might see the size of the centre decline by around half.’

The much 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 likewise looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, in the middle of 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 delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and primary running officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the most current bosses to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim primary executive at the start of April, will establish a shift group within NHS England to ‘lead the extreme reduction and reshaping of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care’.

He said: ‘We know that today’s news is disturbing for our personnel, and we have considerable challenges and changes ahead.’We aim to have a transition group in place to begin on the first April 2025 to assist lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last couple of weeks, I have stated I think the time is ideal for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to best support regional NHS systems and providers to provide for clients 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, providing substantial modifications in our relationship with DHSC to remove 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 operate in particular assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I have actually enjoyed working with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their skill and concentrate on delivering improvement for patients and staff.

‘We are getting in a duration of important 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 meet the scale of the challenge.’

As of June last year, NHS England used simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, consisting of permanent, short-lived 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 also included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

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

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

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

‘Fixing a damaged NHS needs a correct strategy, with main bodies resourced and managed successfully so local services are supported.

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

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These changes are occurring at a scale and rate not prepared for to start with, however provided the big savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to minimize areas of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently provided significant savings and assisted to deliver enhancements in performance, however nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

‘These changes represent the most significant improving of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the immediate next actions become clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be developed.

‘This should have to do with doing things differently for the benefit of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, as well as for personnel ahead of annual study results on Thursday that are yet again expected to show the extreme challenges they face.’

Wes Streeting