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 yesterday amid drastic cost-cutting procedures.

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, deliver better worth 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 recent resignations of president 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 nationwide quango tasked with overseeing the day to day 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 eager to regain tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England stated in a statement: ‘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 decreased and could see the size of the centre decrease by around half.’

The deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 staff members at NHS England over the past 2 years and about 800 at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, in the middle of strategies to cut personnel 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 chief operating officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are among the current 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 radical reduction and improving of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care’.

He said: ‘We understand that today’s news is upsetting for our personnel, and we have considerable challenges and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a transition group in location to begin on the first April 2025 to assist lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last couple of weeks, I have actually said I think the time is right for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to best assistance regional NHS systems and companies to deliver for clients and drive the government’s reform top priorities.’

She said Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, providing substantial modifications 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 dedication as public servants, and their work in particular 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 delivering enhancement for patients and staff.

‘We are going into a duration of critical improvement for our NHS. ‘With a stronger 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 challenge.’

As of June in 2015, NHS England used just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, including permanent, short-term 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 primary monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually also included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be about this sudden modification of instructions.

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

‘Em ployees there have currently been through the mill with limitless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a difficult prospect has now become more like a nightmare.

‘Fixing a broken NHS requires a proper strategy, with central bodies resourced and handled successfully so regional services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a threat of developing a further, more complex mess and could eventually hold the NHS back. That would let down the very people who require it most, the patients.’

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

‘NHS England has already provided considerable savings and helped to deliver enhancements in efficiency, however national bodies and regional NHS leaders know that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the most significant reshaping of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a decade. It is important that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this improvement as the immediate next actions end up being clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be produced.

‘This need to be about doing things differently for the advantage of local neighborhoods as both patients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet once again expected to show the severe challenges they face.’

Wes Streeting