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

The 'bonfire of bureaucrats' is intended at removing duplication throughout the organisations after their labor forces swelled during the pandemic.

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

Three more NHS England board members yesterday revealed they will stop 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 chief monetary officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the nationwide quango tasked with supervising the everyday running of the health service and its long-term technique.

It was established by the Tories in 2013 to offer it greater political independence but Mr Streeting is eager to regain tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England stated in a declaration: 'As part of the need to make finest possible use of to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically lowered and could see the size of the centre decrease 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 past two years and about 800 at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, amid strategies 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 primary operating officer Emily Lawson (best) are amongst the current managers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will establish a shift team within NHS England to 'lead the radical 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 considerable challenges and modifications ahead.'We intend to have a transition group in location to start on the first April 2025 to assist lead us through this period.'

Ms Pritchard said in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: 'In the last couple of weeks, I have stated I think the time is right for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to best assistance regional NHS systems and suppliers to deliver for patients and drive the government's reform priorities.'

She stated Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to 'lead this work, delivering significant modifications in our relationship with DHSC to remove 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 work in particular assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.

'I've delighted in working with each of them over the last eight months and I've been impressed by their skill and concentrate on providing improvement for clients and personnel.

'We are entering a period of important change for our NHS. 'With a stronger relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and urgency required to fulfill the scale of the difficulty.'

As of June in 2015, NHS England used simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent personnel, consisting of permanent, 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 percent more than in January 2020.

NHS England primary monetary officer Julian Kelly has likewise included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, announced recently he would step down this summertime

UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: 'Staff will be understandably concerned about this unexpected modification of direction.

'The variety of redundancies being sought at NHS England has actually trebled in simply a matter of weeks.

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

'Fixing a damaged NHS needs an appropriate plan, with main bodies resourced and managed successfully so regional services are supported.

'Rushing through cuts brings a threat of developing a further, more complex mess and might eventually hold the NHS back. That would let down the very individuals who require it most, the clients.'

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

'NHS England has currently delivered substantial cost savings and assisted to deliver enhancements in efficiency, however nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders know that more is needed this year.

'These changes represent the greatest reshaping of the NHS's nationwide architecture in more than a decade. It is necessary that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this transformation as the immediate next steps become clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be developed.

'This should have to do with doing things differently for the advantage of regional neighborhoods as both patients and taxpayers, as well as for personnel ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet again expected to reveal the severe difficulties they deal with.'

Wes Streeting