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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 unveiled yesterday amidst extreme cost-cutting measures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is targeted at removing duplication throughout the organisations after their workforces swelled throughout the pandemic.

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

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

The current 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 national director for vaccination and screening.

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

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

NHS England stated in a declaration: ‘As part of the requirement to make best possible use of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically minimized and might see the size of the centre decline by around half.’

The deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease 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 seeking 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and chief operating officer Emily Lawson (best) are among the most recent bosses 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 stated: ‘We understand that today’s news is upsetting for our staff, and we have considerable challenges and changes ahead.’We intend to have a shift team in location to begin on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.’

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

She said Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to ‘lead this work, delivering substantial changes in our relationship with DHSC to get rid of 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 operate in specific helping steer the NHS through the pandemic.

‘I have actually delighted in working with each of them over the last eight months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and concentrate on providing improvement for patients and personnel.

‘We are getting in a duration of critical improvement for our NHS. ‘With a more powerful relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will work together with the speed and urgency needed to satisfy the scale of the difficulty.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England used simply under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, consisting of permanent, temporary 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 per cent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually likewise included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

of health Helga Pile said: ‘Staff will be naturally concerned about this unexpected modification of instructions.

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

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

‘Fixing a damaged NHS needs a proper strategy, with central bodies resourced and handled efficiently so regional services are supported.

‘Rushing through cuts brings a threat of creating a further, more complex mess and might ultimately hold the NHS back. That would let down the very people who need it most, the clients.’

Matthew Taylor, primary executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These modifications are taking place at a scale and rate not prepared for to begin with, however provided the substantial savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to minimize locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually currently delivered considerable savings and helped to deliver improvements in productivity, however nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

‘These modifications represent the greatest reshaping of the NHS’s nationwide architecture in more than a years. It is necessary that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the immediate next steps end up being clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be developed.

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

Wes Streeting