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 revealed the other day amid extreme cost-cutting steps.

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, deliver much better worth for taxpayers and free-up money for the frontline.

Three more NHS England board members the other day announced they will quit at the end of this month, following the current resignations of primary executive Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The most current leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating 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 everyday running of the health service and its long-lasting strategy.

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

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

The deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 staff members 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 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and primary running officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are among the most recent managers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will establish 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 unsettling for our staff, and we have considerable challenges and changes ahead.’We intend to have a transition team in place to begin on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard stated 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 finest assistance regional NHS systems and providers to provide for clients and drive the government’s reform priorities.’

She said Mr Streeting had asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, providing substantial changes in our relationship with DHSC to remove duplication’.

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

‘I’ve enjoyed dealing with each of them over the last eight months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and concentrate on delivering improvement for patients and staff.

‘We are entering a duration of crucial improvement 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 seriousness required to satisfy the scale of the challenge.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England utilized just under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, including permanent, short-lived and consultancy. The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, consisting of the UK Health . These are both around 30 percent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, revealed last week he would step down this summer

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

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

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

‘Fixing a broken NHS requires an appropriate strategy, with central bodies resourced and managed effectively so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a danger of developing a further, more complicated mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who need it most, the patients.’

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

‘NHS England has already provided substantial cost savings and helped to deliver improvements in performance, however national bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

‘These changes represent the greatest reshaping of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is necessary that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are involved in this change as the instant next steps become clearer, so that an optimum operating model can be developed.

‘This must have to do with doing things in a different way for the advantage of regional communities as both clients and taxpayers, in addition to for staff ahead of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to reveal the extreme difficulties they face.’

Wes Streeting