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 revealed yesterday amid drastic cost-cutting steps.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is targeted at eliminating duplication across 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 value 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 nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The most recent leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, the chief shipment officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the nationwide quango tasked with supervising the everyday running of the health service and its long-lasting strategy.

It was established by the Tories in 2013 to provide it greater political self-reliance but Mr Streeting is keen to gain back tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England stated in a statement: ‘As part of the requirement to make best possible use of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically decreased 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 employees 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 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 chief running officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the latest managers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will establish a shift group within NHS England to ‘lead the radical reduction and reshaping of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care’.

He said: ‘We know that today’s news is upsetting for our staff, and we have substantial difficulties and changes ahead.’We intend to have a transition team in place to begin on the 1st April 2025 to assist lead us through this period.’

Ms Pritchard stated 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 radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance local NHS systems and providers to provide for patients and drive the federal government’s reform concerns.’

She stated Mr Streeting had asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, providing substantial modifications in our relationship with DHSC to get rid of 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 assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I’ve enjoyed dealing with each of them over the last eight months and I’ve been impressed by their skill and concentrate on providing enhancement for patients and personnel.

‘We are going into a duration of vital change for our NHS. ‘With a stronger relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will work together with the speed and urgency required to meet the scale of the obstacle.’

Since June last year, NHS England employed simply under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, consisting of long-term, temporary 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 percent more than in January 2020.

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

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

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

‘The number of redundancies being looked for at NHS England has 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 problem.

‘Fixing a broken NHS needs a proper plan, with main bodies resourced and managed efficiently so regional services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of creating a further, 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, president of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These changes are at a scale and rate not prepared for to start with, but offered the huge savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to reduce locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has already provided significant cost savings and assisted to deliver improvements in efficiency, but national bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

‘These changes represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a decade. It is necessary that local NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this transformation as the immediate next actions become clearer, so that an optimal operating design can be produced.

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

Wes Streeting