Thousands of NHS staff will be made redundant as the government presses ahead with plans to abolish NHS England, The Independent has been told.
In a briefing to staff on Tuesday, NHS England confirmed voluntary redundancies planned for the organisation, as well as local NHS integrated care boards, will go ahead next year.
In a slide, seen by The Independent, NHS England said there would be a “50 per cent reduction”. It said there is a push for voluntary redundancies and that the roles will be cut from mid-March 2026.
Earlier this year, the government announced the abolishment of NHS England, with plans to bring the organisation under the supervision of the Department of Health and Social Care.
NHS England employs more than 15,000 staff and was set up in 2013 by then-Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley to give the NHS greater autonomy.
When announcing plans to abolish, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said an “arms-length” body should not make decisions about the more than £150 billion annual NHS England budget, as he promised the move would allow the government to deliver better care.
However, NHS England employees have been in a precarious situation because the government has not previously confirmed that the Treasury will fund the layoffs.
It is unclear how much, if anything, the government will provide the NHS in addition to its current budget so that the layoffs may proceed.
Staff were told they could apply for voluntary redundancy between 1 and 14 December. National approval for redundancies will be given on 18 January.
About 3,000 staff have voiced an interest in redundancy, workers were told, according to an NHS source on the call.
The announcement comes ahead of the much-awaited autumn Budget this month.
The Independent has approached NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.
I am all for cutting management, as long as it’s not our frontline workers. However, you can never tell with this government, and it’s about time our taxpaying money was spent on health and not talking rubbish.
As long as the funds and savings are assigned to front-line services, it makes sense to lower the number of managers, but sadly, profit is their number 1 priority – it’s not about the care and welfare of its patients, and that is extremely sad.
We should bring back ‘Matrons’ onto every ward because they ran a tight ship, and they were experienced clinical staff in the field of providing leadership. They were there to mentor, and were devoted to the patients in their care, spending time on the wards, stepping in as hands if required.
All of this, meanwhile, seems like a ploy to facilitate the NHS’s privatisation, and our government have done nothing to improve our ailing health service. We have too many administrators, and not enough hospital beds, doctors and nurses.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 