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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 the other day in the middle of drastic cost-cutting procedures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is targeted at getting rid of 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, provide much better value for taxpayers and free-up money for the frontline.

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

The most current leaders to sign up with 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 national quango tasked with managing the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting method.

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

NHS England stated in a statement: ‘As part of the need to make finest possible use of taxpayers’ cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically reduced and might see the size of the centre decrease 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 also 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 shipment officer Steve Russell (left) and chief running officer Emily Lawson (right) are among the most recent employers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will set up 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 disturbing for our personnel, and we have significant challenges and modifications ahead.’We intend to have a transition group in location to begin on the 1st April 2025 to assist lead us through this duration.’

Ms Pritchard said in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: ‘In the last couple of weeks, I have said I think the time is right for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest assistance regional NHS systems and service providers to deliver for patients and drive the government’s reform concerns.’

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

Mr Streeting stated: ‘I wish 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 delighted 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 clients and staff.

‘We are getting in a period of crucial 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 required to satisfy the scale of the difficulty.’

Since June in 2015, NHS England used just under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, consisting of irreversible, short-lived 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 also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, announced recently he would step down this summer

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be understandably worried about this sudden modification of instructions.

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

‘Em ployees there have actually currently been through the mill with unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a stressful prospect has actually now ended up being more like a problem.

‘Fixing a broken NHS needs an appropriate plan, with central bodies resourced and handled effectively so regional services are supported.

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

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These modifications are happening at a scale and speed not expected to start with, however provided the huge cost savings that the NHS needs 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 England has currently delivered substantial cost savings and assisted to deliver enhancements in efficiency, but nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

‘These modifications represent the most significant improving of the NHS’s national architecture in more than a years. It is very important that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this change as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that an optimal operating model can be created.

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

Wes Streeting