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 the other day in the middle of extreme cost-cutting steps.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is aimed at eliminating duplication throughout 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, provide much better worth for taxpayers and free-up cash 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 chief executive Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The most current leaders to sign up with 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 charged with overseeing the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting method.

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to give it greater political independence however Mr Streeting is eager to regain tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England stated in a declaration: ‘As part of the need to make best possible usage of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically minimized and could 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 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 looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, in the middle of 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 (ideal) are among the most recent bosses to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim president at the start of April, will set up a shift team within NHS England to ‘lead the radical reduction and reshaping 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 substantial challenges and modifications ahead.’We intend to have a transition group in location to begin on the 1st April 2025 to help lead us through this period.’

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

She stated 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 eliminate duplication’.

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

‘I’ve taken pleasure in working with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their ability and focus on delivering enhancement for patients 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 collaborate with the speed and urgency required to meet the scale of the challenge.’

As of June in 2015, NHS England employed simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, including permanent, 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 monetary officer Julian Kelly has likewise added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

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

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

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

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

‘Rushing through cuts brings a danger of producing an even more, more complex mess and might eventually hold the NHS back. That would let down the very individuals who require it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, primary executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These modifications are occurring at a scale and pace not prepared for to begin with, but given the huge savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes sense to reduce locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently provided significant cost savings and helped to provide enhancements in productivity, but nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders know that more is needed this year.

‘These changes represent the greatest reshaping of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a decade. It is very important that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the instant next steps become clearer, so that an optimum operating design can be created.

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

Wes Streeting