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 revealed yesterday amidst drastic cost-cutting procedures.

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also seeking 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 yesterday announced they will quit at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of president Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The most recent leaders to sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, the chief shipment officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with supervising the day to day running of the health service and its long-term strategy.

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

NHS England said in a declaration: ‘As part of the requirement to make finest possible use of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly reduced 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 staff members 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, 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and chief operating officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the newest managers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim primary executive at the start of April, will set up a transition group within NHS England to ‘lead the radical 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 staff, and we have considerable difficulties and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a transition team in location to start on the 1st April 2025 to help 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 think the time is ideal for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance local NHS systems and companies to provide for clients and drive the federal government’s reform priorities.’

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

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

‘I’ve delighted in working with each of them over the last eight months and I’ve been impressed by their ability and focus on delivering improvement for patients and staff.

‘We are entering a period of vital improvement for our NHS. ‘With a more powerful relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will interact with the speed and seriousness needed to meet the scale of the challenge.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England utilized just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, consisting of permanent, 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 percent more than in January 2020.

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

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, announced last week he would step down this summer season

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

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

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

‘Fixing a broken NHS needs an appropriate plan, with central bodies resourced and handled efficiently so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a danger of producing a further, more complex mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who require it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These modifications are taking place at a scale and speed not anticipated to begin with, however offered the huge savings that the NHS needs 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 currently delivered considerable savings and assisted to deliver improvements in performance, but nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

‘These modifications represent the most significant reshaping of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a decade. It is necessary that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this transformation as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that an optimum operating design can be created.

‘This need to be about doing things differently for the advantage of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, in addition to for staff ahead of annual study results on Thursday that are yet once again expected to show the extreme challenges they deal with.’

Wes Streeting