29sixservices

About Us

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 in the middle of drastic cost-cutting procedures.

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

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

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

The newest leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary monetary officer, Emily Lawson, the chief running officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

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

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

NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the requirement to make finest possible use of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically minimized and could 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 two 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, amid 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 delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and primary running officer Emily Lawson (best) are amongst the most recent employers to join the exodus

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

He stated: ‘We understand that today’s news is unsettling for our personnel, and we have significant challenges and changes ahead.’We intend to have a shift group in location to start on the first April 2025 to 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 think the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance regional NHS systems and service providers to provide for patients and drive the federal government’s reform priorities.’

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

Mr Streeting stated: ‘I ‘d like to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their devotion as public servants, and their work in specific helping steer the NHS through the pandemic.

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

‘We are getting in a duration 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 interact with the speed and seriousness needed to satisfy the scale of the difficulty.’

As of June last year, NHS England utilized simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, including irreversible, temporary 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 financial officer Julian Kelly has also included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: ‘Staff will be not surprisingly concerned about this unexpected modification of instructions.

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

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

‘Fixing a damaged NHS requires a correct strategy, with central 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 could eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who need it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These modifications are occurring at a scale and pace not prepared for to start with, but provided the huge cost 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 actually already provided significant cost savings and helped to deliver enhancements in productivity, however national bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

‘These changes represent the greatest improving of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is very important that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this transformation as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that an optimal operating design can be developed.

‘This must be about doing things differently for the benefit of local neighborhoods as both patients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet again anticipated to reveal the severe obstacles they deal with.’

Wes Streeting