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 extreme cost-cutting steps.

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, deliver much better value for taxpayers and free-up money for the frontline.

Three more NHS England board members yesterday revealed they will stop at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of chief executive Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief monetary 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 national quango tasked with overseeing the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting method.

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

NHS England stated in a statement: ‘As part of the requirement to make finest possible usage of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically reduced and might see the size of the centre decrease by around half.’

The much deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction 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 also 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 chief operating officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are among the latest employers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim chief executive at the start of April, will set up a shift team within NHS England to ‘lead the extreme decrease and improving of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care’.

He said: ‘We understand that today’s news is disturbing for our personnel, and we have significant obstacles and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a shift group in location to start on the 1st April 2025 to help lead us through this period.’

Ms Pritchard stated in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last couple of weeks, I have said I think the time is best for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to best assistance regional NHS systems and suppliers to provide for clients and drive the federal government’s reform top priorities.’

She stated Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, delivering significant modifications in our relationship with DHSC to eliminate 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 particular assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I have actually enjoyed working with each of them over the last eight months and I’ve been impressed by their skill and concentrate on providing enhancement for clients and staff.

‘We are getting in a period of vital change for our NHS. ‘With a more powerful relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and seriousness required to fulfill the scale of the obstacle.’

As of June last year, NHS England used simply under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, consisting of irreversible, 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 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 national medical director, announced last week he would step down this summertime

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be understandably 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 currently been through the mill with limitless rounds of reorganisation. What was already a stressful possibility has now ended up being more like a nightmare.

‘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 creating a further, more complex mess and might ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who need it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These modifications are happening at a scale and speed not prepared for to begin with, but provided the huge cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes sense to lower locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently delivered considerable cost savings and helped to provide enhancements in efficiency, but national bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

‘These modifications represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is very important 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 should have to do with doing things in a different way for the benefit of regional neighborhoods as both patients and taxpayers, along with for staff ahead of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet again expected to reveal the extreme challenges they face.’

Wes Streeting