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 unveiled the other day amid drastic cost-cutting steps.

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 looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, provide 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 recent resignations of president Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

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

NHS England is the nationwide quango tasked with overseeing the everyday running of the health service and its long-term method.

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

NHS England stated in a statement: ‘As part of the need to make best possible use of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically reduced and might see the size of the centre reduction by around half.’

The much deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction 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 Social Care.

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 (right) are amongst the current managers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will set up a transition group 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 disturbing for our personnel, and we have considerable difficulties and changes ahead.’We intend to have a shift group in place to start on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last number of weeks, I have actually stated I think the time is best for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to best support local NHS systems and suppliers to deliver for patients and drive the federal government’s reform top priorities.’

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

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

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

‘We are going into a duration of vital change for our NHS. ‘With a more powerful relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will interact with the speed and urgency required to meet the scale of the difficulty.’

As of June in 2015, NHS England employed just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, consisting of permanent, 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 financial officer Julian Kelly has likewise included 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 worried about this sudden modification of direction.

of redundancies being sought at NHS England has actually trebled in simply a matter of weeks.

‘Em ployees there have already been through the mill with endless rounds of reorganisation. What was already a difficult possibility has actually now ended up being more like a problem.

‘Fixing a broken NHS needs a correct plan, with main bodies resourced and handled effectively so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a danger of creating an even more, more complicated mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who require it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These modifications are happening at a scale and pace not expected to begin with, however offered the substantial cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes good sense to lower locations of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently delivered considerable cost savings and assisted to provide enhancements in productivity, but national bodies and regional 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 necessary that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the immediate next steps become clearer, so that an optimum operating design can be produced.

‘This need to be about doing things differently for the benefit of regional neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, in addition to for staff ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet again anticipated to show the extreme challenges they deal with.’

Wes Streeting