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 in the middle of extreme cost-cutting steps.
The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is aimed at getting rid of duplication across the organisations after their workforces swelled throughout the pandemic.
Health secretary Wes Streeting is also seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, provide better value for taxpayers and free-up money for the frontline.
Three more NHS England board members the other day revealed they will quit at the end of this month, following the current resignations of primary 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 monetary officer, Emily Lawson, the chief running 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 daily running of the health service and its long-lasting strategy.
It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to give it greater political independence however Mr Streeting is keen to gain back tighter control from within his Department.
NHS England said in a statement: ‘As part of the requirement to make finest possible use of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically reduced and could see the size of the centre decline by around half.’
The deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease 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, amid 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and chief running officer Emily Lawson (right) are among the current employers 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 radical 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 significant difficulties and changes ahead.’We intend to have a transition team in place to begin on the 1st 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 couple of weeks, I have actually stated I believe the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support regional NHS systems and companies to provide for clients and drive the federal government’s reform top .’
She stated 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 eradicate duplication’.
Mr Streeting said: ‘I want to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their commitment as public servants, and their work in specific helping guide the NHS through the pandemic.
‘I have actually taken pleasure in dealing with each of them over the last 8 months and I’ve been impressed by their ability and concentrate on delivering enhancement for clients and staff.
‘We are going into a period of important 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 fulfill the scale of the obstacle.’
As of June in 2015, NHS England employed just under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, consisting of irreversible, momentary 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 primary monetary 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 worried about this unexpected change of instructions.
‘The number of redundancies being sought at NHS England has actually trebled in just a matter of weeks.
‘Em ployees there have already been through the mill with limitless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a demanding possibility has now become more like a problem.
‘Fixing a broken NHS requires a proper strategy, with central bodies resourced and handled effectively so regional services are supported.
‘Rushing through cuts brings a danger of producing a further, more complicated mess and could eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people 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 prepared for to begin with, however provided the big savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes good sense to lower areas 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 assisted to provide enhancements in efficiency, but national bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.
‘These changes 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 instant next actions become clearer, so that an optimum operating design can be produced.
‘This need to have to do with doing things in a different way for the benefit of regional communities as both patients and taxpayers, as well as for personnel ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to reveal the extreme challenges they deal with.’
Wes Streeting