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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 yesterday amid drastic cost-cutting measures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is intended at eliminating duplication across the organisations after their labor forces swelled during the pandemic.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also seeking 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 the other day announced they will quit at the end of this month, following the current resignations of president Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The latest 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 delivery officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with managing the daily running of the health service and its long-term method.

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

NHS England stated in a declaration: ‘As part of the requirement to make finest possible usage of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically lowered 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 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, amid 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 delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and chief operating officer Emily Lawson (best) are among the current bosses to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will set up a shift 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 personnel, and we have significant challenges and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a shift group 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 number of weeks, I have actually stated I believe the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to best support regional NHS systems and service providers to deliver for patients and drive the federal government’s reform priorities.’

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

Mr Streeting stated: ‘I ‘d like to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their devotion as public servants, and their work in specific assisting guide the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I have actually taken pleasure in working with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their skill and concentrate on providing enhancement for patients and personnel.

‘We are getting in a period of vital 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 seriousness needed to fulfill the scale of the difficulty.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England used simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, including long-term, short-lived and consultancy. The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, including the UK Health Security Agency. These are both around 30 per cent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief financial officer Julian Kelly has actually likewise included 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 said: ‘Staff will be understandably concerned about this abrupt modification of instructions.

‘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 unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was already a difficult prospect has now ended up being more like a nightmare.

a broken NHS requires a proper plan, with central bodies resourced and handled effectively so local services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing an even more, more complex mess and could eventually hold the NHS back. That would let down the very individuals who need it most, the clients.’

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These modifications are taking place at a scale and rate not expected to begin with, but offered the substantial cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes sense to decrease areas of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has currently delivered substantial cost savings and assisted to provide improvements in performance, but national bodies and regional NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

‘These changes represent the biggest improving of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is very important that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this change as the instant next actions end up being clearer, so that an optimal operating model can be developed.

‘This need to have to do with doing things in a different way for the benefit of regional neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, along with for staff ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to show the extreme challenges they face.’

Wes Streeting