Wes Streeting gives the go ahead for ICB and NHS job cuts

Thousands of NHS job cuts will go ahead in England after a deal was reached with the Treasury to allow the health service to overspend this year to cover the cost of redundancies.

The government has confirmed the planned timetable of bringing NHS England back into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) within two years, with the aim of cutting bureaucracy.

Speaking at the NHS Providers Conference in Manchester today, Wes Streeting will give NHS leaders the go ahead for a 50% cut to headcounts in integrated care boards (ICBs).

He is expected to say: “The government is protecting investment in the NHS at the Budget, worth an extra £29 billion to the health service. I want to reassure taxpayers that every penny they are being asked to pay will be spent wisely.

“We have already cut waiting lists for the first year in 15 years, recruited 2,500 more GPs, and cut ambulance waits for patients with conditions like heart attacks and strokes.

“Our investment to offer more services at evenings and weekends, arm staff with modern technology, and improve staff retention is working.

“At the same time, cuts to wasteful spending on things like recruitment agencies saw productivity grow by 2.4% in the most recent figures – we are getting better bang for our buck.

“We’re now pushing down on the accelerator and slashing unnecessary bureaucracy, to reinvest the savings in frontline care.

“It won’t happen overnight, but with our investment and modernisation, we will rebuild our NHS so it is there for you when you need it once again.”

A draft Model ICB Blueprint, published by NHSE in May, said that digital leadership and transformation functions are being reviewed for transfer from ICBs to providers to help ICBs cut 50% from their overheads.

In a press release, DHSC said that funding arrangements have been agreed with the Treasury from within the existing funding settlement without cutting investment to the NHS frontline.

It added that the government has committed to reducing the running costs of ICBs and has given them “a clear and focused purpose as “strategic commissioners“.

ICBs will be tasked with transforming the NHS into a Neighbourhood Health Service, with a greater focus on preventing illness, which the government said means “they will be leaner organisations, with half their current posts removed”.

Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive at NHSE, said: “This is good news for NHS staff and patients – allowing our organisations to move forward and provide greater certainty about the future for all our staff and leaders.

“It will free up resources to invest in frontline services and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy that slows us down and gets in the way of the improving care.”

In response, Dr Tom Dolphin, chair of council at the British Medical Association, said: “The Secretary of State plans to save large sums of money from reducing bureaucracy, but we are concerned about the effect of losing many roles at once from NHS England on the ‘shift to prevention’, especially in public health and planning, and the impact on all staff losing their livelihoods.”