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 the other day in the middle of drastic cost-cutting measures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is focused on removing duplication throughout the organisations after their labor forces swelled during the pandemic.

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

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

The current leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary 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 nationwide quango charged with supervising the daily running of the health service and its long-term technique.

It was established by the Tories in 2013 to give it higher political self-reliance but Mr Streeting is eager to restore tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the requirement to make best possible usage of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly lowered and could see the size of the centre reduction by around half.’

The much deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease of about 4,000 to 6,000 employees at NHS England over the past 2 years and about 800 at the Department of Health and .

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise looking for 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and primary operating officer Emily Lawson (best) are among the newest employers to sign up with the exodus

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

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

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 believe the time is right for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance local NHS systems and service providers to deliver for patients and drive the government’s reform concerns.’

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

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

‘I have actually enjoyed working with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their skill and focus on delivering enhancement for clients and personnel.

‘We are getting in a duration of critical transformation for our NHS. ‘With a more powerful relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and seriousness needed to meet the scale of the challenge.’

Since June last year, NHS England employed simply under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, including 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 primary monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS nationwide medical director, announced last week he would step down this summertime

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

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

‘Em ployees there have already been through the mill with unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was already a demanding possibility has now become more like a nightmare.

‘Fixing a broken NHS requires an appropriate strategy, with main bodies resourced and managed efficiently so regional services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing a further, more complex mess and might 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, said: ‘These modifications are taking place at a scale and speed not prepared for to start with, but offered the huge cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes good sense to reduce areas of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has already delivered substantial savings and helped to deliver improvements in performance, however nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the greatest improving of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a decade. It is very important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this change as the instant next actions become clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be created.

‘This should have to do with doing things differently for the advantage of local neighborhoods 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 severe difficulties they face.’

Wes Streeting