Thousands of NHS Staff in England To Be Made Redundant
Thousands of NHS staff will lose their jobs after a deal was struck between the Treasury and the Department of Health to cover the £1bn cost of redundancies. The agreement means the NHS can overspend its budget this year to pay for the job cuts, with the expectation that it will make back the money in future savings.
Around 18,000 admin and managerial roles will go, including within local health boards and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). NHS England itself — created in 2013 to give the health service more independence — will be absorbed back into the Department of Health and Social Care within two years.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said patients and staff had made it clear that the NHS had “too many layers of management, too many layers of bureaucracy.” He added: “People want to see the front line prioritised, and that is exactly what we’re doing.”
Streeting, who will address NHS leaders at the Providers’ conference in Manchester, is expected to say: “I want to reassure taxpayers that every penny they are being asked to pay will be spent wisely. We’re now pushing down on the accelerator and slashing unnecessary bureaucracy, to reinvest the savings in front-line care.”
According to government estimates, the reforms could raise £1bn a year by the end of the current parliament — enough, they say, to fund around 116,000 additional hip and knee operations.
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, called the Treasury deal “a pragmatic step that means planned redundancies can now go ahead.” But he warned about the impact on staff, saying those affected “face a very uncertain future.”
Patricia Marquis from the Royal College of Nursing said the cuts could be short-sighted: “Front-line services need more investment, but to do this off the backs of making thousands of experts redundant is a false economy.”
Inside NHS England, staff were briefed this week that voluntary redundancies will start next year, with a 50% headcount reduction across the organisation and ICBs. Employees were told they could apply for redundancy between 1st and 14th December, with final approval expected on 18th January. An NHS source said around 3,000 staff have already expressed interest.
While the Treasury has not provided extra funding beyond the NHS’s existing budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to outline further health spending details in the upcoming November Budget.
Despite concerns over disruption, ministers argue the shake-up is vital to refocus spending and streamline operations. Streeting insisted that “we’re finally on the road to recovery,” promising that the savings will be used to “rebuild our NHS so it is there for you when you need it once again.”
