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 yesterday amid drastic cost-cutting procedures.

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

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

Three more NHS England board members the other day announced 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 recent 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 shipment officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the nationwide quango entrusted with managing the day to day running of the health service and its long-term method.

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to offer it greater political self-reliance however Mr Streeting is keen to regain tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England said in a declaration: ‘As part of the need to make finest possible use of taxpayers’ money 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 employees at NHS England over the previous two 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, in the middle of plans 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 primary running officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are amongst the current managers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim primary executive at the start of April, will set up a transition group within NHS England to ‘lead the extreme reduction and reshaping 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 difficulties and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a transition group in place to start on the 1st April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard stated in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last number of weeks, I have said I believe the time is right for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance local NHS systems and companies to deliver for clients and drive the federal government’s reform priorities.’

She said Mr Streeting had asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, providing significant changes 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 operate in specific helping steer the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I have actually taken pleasure in dealing with each of them over the last eight months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and focus on delivering improvement 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 interact with the speed and urgency required to meet the scale of the difficulty.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England employed just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, including irreversible, 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 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 last week he would step down this summer

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

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

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

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

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing a further, more complicated mess and might eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who need it most, the patients.’

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

‘NHS has already delivered considerable savings and assisted to provide enhancements in performance, however national bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

‘These modifications represent the most significant reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a decade. It is necessary that local NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this change as the instant next actions become clearer, so that a maximum operating model can be created.

‘This need to have to do with doing things in a different way for the advantage of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, along with for personnel ahead of annual study results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to show the extreme obstacles they face.’

Wes Streeting