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 measures.

The 'bonfire of bureaucrats' is intended at removing duplication across the organisations after their workforces swelled during the pandemic.

Wes Streeting is likewise looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, provide much better value for taxpayers and free-up cash for the frontline.

Three more NHS England board members yesterday revealed they will give up at the end of this month, following the current 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 primary monetary 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 entrusted with managing the everyday running of the health service and its long-lasting method.

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

NHS England said in a statement: '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 decreased and might see the size of the centre reduction by around half.'

The deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease of about 4,000 to 6,000 staff members at NHS England over the past 2 years and about 800 at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise seeking 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 delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and chief running officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the most recent employers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will establish a shift team within NHS England to 'lead the extreme reduction 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 substantial challenges and changes ahead.'We aim to have a shift group in place to begin on the 1st April 2025 to assist 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 said I believe the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support regional NHS systems and service providers to provide for clients and drive the government's reform top priorities.'

She stated Mr Streeting had asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to 'lead this work, delivering considerable modifications in our relationship with DHSC to eliminate duplication'.

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

'I've 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 enhancement for patients and staff.

'We are going into a duration of vital transformation for our NHS. 'With a stronger relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will interact with the speed and urgency needed to meet the scale of the difficulty.'

Since June in 2015, NHS England utilized simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, including 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 chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS nationwide medical director, revealed recently he would step down this summer season

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: 'Staff will be not surprisingly worried about this abrupt change of direction.

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

'Em ployees there have currently been through the mill with unlimited rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a demanding possibility has now ended up being more like a problem.

'Fixing a broken NHS requires a proper plan, with main bodies resourced and managed efficiently so regional services are supported.

'Rushing through cuts brings a threat of creating an even more, more complicated mess and could eventually hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who require it most, the patients.'

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: 'These modifications are taking place at a scale and speed not anticipated to begin with, but offered the substantial savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to lower areas 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 assisted to provide enhancements in productivity, but nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

'These modifications represent the greatest improving of the NHS's nationwide architecture in more than a decade. It is very important that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this improvement as the immediate next steps become clearer, so that an optimum operating model can be created.

'This should be about doing things differently for the advantage of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, as well as for personnel ahead of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet again anticipated to show the extreme challenges they deal with.'

Wes Streeting