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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 the other day amidst extreme cost-cutting procedures.

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

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

Three more NHS England board members the other day revealed they will give up at the end of this month, following the current resignations of primary executive Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The newest 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 delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango charged with supervising the everyday running of the health service and its long-term technique.

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to give it higher political independence but Mr Streeting is keen 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 drastically minimized and could see the size of the centre decrease 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 also seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, amidst 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 (left) and primary running officer Emily Lawson (best) are amongst the most recent employers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim chief executive at the start of April, will set up a shift team within NHS England to ‘lead the radical decrease and improving 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 substantial obstacles and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a shift team in place to begin on the first 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 number of weeks, I have said I believe the time is best for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance regional NHS systems and companies to provide for clients and drive the government’s reform priorities.’

She said Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, delivering considerable modifications in our relationship with DHSC to remove duplication’.

Mr Streeting said: ‘I ‘d like to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their dedication as public servants, and their operate in specific assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I have actually enjoyed dealing with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their ability and concentrate on providing improvement for clients and personnel.

‘We are entering a duration of vital transformation 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 needed to satisfy the scale of the obstacle.’

As of June in 2015, NHS England used just under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, consisting of permanent, momentary 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 likewise added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: ‘Staff will be not surprisingly concerned about this sudden modification 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 endless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a difficult prospect has actually now ended up being more like a headache.

‘Fixing a broken NHS needs an appropriate strategy, with main bodies resourced and handled effectively so regional services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of creating an even more, more complicated mess and might ultimately hold the NHS back. That would let down the very individuals who need it most, the clients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These changes are happening at a scale and speed not expected to start with, however provided the substantial cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to reduce locations of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently provided significant savings and helped to deliver enhancements in efficiency, 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 essential that local NHS organisations and other bodies are involved in this transformation as the immediate next steps end up being clearer, so that a maximum operating model can be produced.

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

Wes Streeting