29sixservices

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 drastic cost-cutting measures.

The ‘bonfire of bureaucrats’ is focused on getting rid of duplication across the organisations after their workforces swelled during the pandemic.

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

Three more NHS England board members yesterday revealed they will quit at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of president 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 nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the nationwide quango tasked with managing the day to day running of the health service and its long-lasting strategy.

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

NHS England said in a declaration: ‘As part of the need to make best possible use of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically decreased and could see the size of the centre reduction by around half.’

The much 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 looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, amidst 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 running officer Emily Lawson (ideal) are among the current employers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim primary executive at the start of April, will set up a transition group within NHS England to ‘lead the extreme decrease and improving 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 substantial challenges and modifications ahead.’We aim to have a transition team in place to begin on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.’

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

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 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’ve enjoyed working with each of them over the last eight months and I’ve been impressed by their skill and concentrate on providing enhancement for clients and staff.

‘We are going into a duration of critical change 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 needed to fulfill the scale of the difficulty.’

Since June last year, NHS England used just under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, including permanent, 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 monetary officer Julian Kelly has actually also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS nationwide medical director, announced last week he would step down this summer season

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: ‘Staff will be understandably concerned about this unexpected change of direction.

‘The variety 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 endless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a difficult prospect has now ended up being more like a headache.

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

‘Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing a further, more complex mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who need it most, the patients.’

Matthew Taylor, of the NHS Confederation, stated: ‘These changes are happening at a scale and speed not anticipated to begin with, however provided the big cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes sense to reduce locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

‘NHS England has actually currently delivered substantial savings and assisted to deliver improvements in productivity, but national bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

‘These modifications represent the most significant improving 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 change as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that an optimum operating design can be developed.

‘This should be about doing things differently for the benefit of local neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, as well as for staff ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet again expected to reveal the extreme challenges they deal with.’

Wes Streeting