Plans to cut personnel numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care were revealed the other day amidst extreme cost-cutting procedures.

The 'bonfire of bureaucrats' is targeted at 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 worth for taxpayers and free-up cash for the frontline.

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

The current leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief running officer, and Steve Russell, the chief shipment officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with supervising the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting technique.

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

NHS England said in a declaration: 'As part of the requirement to make finest possible usage of taxpayers' cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be significantly minimized and could see the size of the centre reduction by around half.'

The much deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction 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 likewise seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, in the middle of strategies 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 primary running officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the latest bosses 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 reshaping of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care'.

He stated: 'We understand that today's news is upsetting for our staff, and we have significant obstacles and changes ahead.'We aim to have a shift group in location to begin on the 1st April 2025 to help lead us through this period.'

Ms Pritchard stated in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: 'In the last couple of weeks, I have stated I believe the time is right for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support local NHS systems and suppliers to deliver for clients and drive the federal government's reform top priorities.'

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

Mr Streeting stated: 'I want to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their devotion as public servants, and their work in specific helping steer the NHS through the pandemic.

'I've enjoyed working with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their skill and focus on delivering enhancement for clients and personnel.

'We are getting in a period of vital improvement for our NHS. 'With a more powerful relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and urgency required to meet the scale of the difficulty.'

Since June in 2015, NHS England utilized just under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, including long-term, temporary 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 primary financial officer Julian Kelly has also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

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

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: 'Staff will be understandably concerned about this abrupt change of instructions.

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

'Em ployees there have actually already been through the mill with endless rounds of reorganisation. What was currently a stressful prospect has actually now ended up being more like a nightmare.

'Fixing a broken NHS requires a proper strategy, with central bodies resourced and handled efficiently so local services are supported.

'Rushing through cuts brings a threat of creating an even more, more complex mess and might ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who require it most, the clients.'

Matthew Taylor, primary executive of the NHS Confederation, said: 'These modifications are happening at a scale and rate not expected to begin with, but given the big savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes good sense to decrease locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

'NHS England has actually currently delivered considerable cost savings and assisted to deliver improvements in efficiency, however nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

'These changes represent the most significant improving of the NHS's national architecture in more than a decade. It is very important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this improvement as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be produced.

'This need to be about doing things differently for the advantage of regional communities as both patients and taxpayers, as well as for of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet again expected to show the extreme challenges they deal with.'

Wes Streeting