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

The 'bonfire of bureaucrats' is focused on eliminating duplication across the organisations after their workforces swelled throughout the pandemic.

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

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

The most current leaders to sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary monetary officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with overseeing the daily running of the health service and its long-term strategy.

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

NHS England said in a declaration: 'As part of the need to make best possible usage of taxpayers' cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically lowered and could see the size of the centre decline by around half.'

The much deeper staffing cuts follow a decrease of about 4,000 to 6,000 workers 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, 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 delivery officer Steve Russell (left) and primary operating officer Emily Lawson (best) are among the current bosses to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim chief executive at the start of April, will set up a transition team within NHS England to 'lead the radical decrease and improving of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care'.

He stated: 'We understand that today's news is disturbing for our personnel, and we have substantial obstacles and changes ahead.'We intend to have a shift group in place to start 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 number of weeks, I have said I think the time is best for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support local NHS systems and companies to deliver for patients and drive the government's reform priorities.'

She stated Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the incoming NHS England chair, to 'lead this work, delivering considerable modifications 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 dedication as public servants, and their work in particular the NHS through the pandemic.

'I've enjoyed dealing with each of them over the last eight months and I have actually been impressed by their skill and focus on delivering enhancement for patients and staff.

'We are getting in a period of important change for our NHS. 'With a more powerful relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will work together with the speed and seriousness needed to meet the scale of the difficulty.'

As of June last year, NHS England used simply under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, consisting of long-term, short-term 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 included his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, announced last week he would step down this summer season

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: 'Staff will be naturally worried about this unexpected modification of direction.

'The number of redundancies being sought at NHS England has trebled in just a matter of weeks.

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

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

'Rushing through cuts brings a danger of creating a further, more complex mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who need it most, the patients.'

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: 'These changes are happening at a scale and pace not anticipated to start with, but provided the substantial savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes sense to reduce locations of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

'NHS England has actually already provided significant cost savings and assisted to deliver enhancements in efficiency, however nationwide bodies and regional NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

'These modifications represent the biggest improving of the NHS's national architecture in more than a decade. It is essential that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this change as the immediate next steps end up being clearer, so that an optimal operating design can be produced.

'This must be about doing things differently for the advantage of local communities as both clients and taxpayers, along with for personnel ahead of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet once again anticipated to reveal the extreme challenges they face.'

Wes Streeting