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 yesterday amidst drastic cost-cutting steps.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is targeted at eliminating duplication across the organisations after their workforces swelled during the pandemic.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also 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 yesterday 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 delivery officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the nationwide quango charged with supervising the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting technique.

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to offer it higher political self-reliance 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 reduced and could see the size of the centre decline by around half.’

The deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 workers 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 primary running officer Emily Lawson (right) are among the most recent bosses 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 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 personnel, and we have considerable challenges and modifications ahead.’We intend to have a in location to start on the 1st April 2025 to assist 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 ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to best support local NHS systems and companies to provide for patients and drive the government’s reform top priorities.’

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

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

‘I have actually delighted in working with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their skill and focus on delivering improvement for patients and personnel.

‘We are getting in a duration of critical transformation for our NHS. ‘With a stronger relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will interact with the speed and urgency required to fulfill the scale of the difficulty.’

As of June in 2015, NHS England utilized just under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, 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 percent more than in January 2020.

NHS England primary monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually likewise 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 stated: ‘Staff will be not surprisingly concerned about this unexpected modification of direction.

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

‘Em ployees there have currently been through the mill with endless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a demanding prospect has actually now ended up being more like a headache.

‘Fixing a damaged NHS needs a correct plan, with central bodies resourced and handled efficiently so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a threat of creating a further, more complex mess and could eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull 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 pace not expected to begin with, however offered the big savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to decrease locations of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually already provided significant cost savings and helped to provide enhancements in productivity, however national bodies and regional NHS leaders know that more is needed this year.

‘These modifications represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a decade. It is important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this transformation as the immediate next actions become clearer, so that a maximum operating model can be produced.

‘This should be about doing things differently for the advantage of local communities as both patients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to show the extreme difficulties they deal with.’

Wes Streeting