Plans to cut personnel numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care were unveiled yesterday amid extreme cost-cutting steps.

The 'bonfire of bureaucrats' is targeted at removing duplication across the organisations after their workforces swelled throughout the pandemic.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, provide better value for taxpayers and free-up cash 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 current resignations of chief executive Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The most recent leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the primary financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief running officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango entrusted with managing the everyday running of the health service and its long-term technique.

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

NHS England stated in a statement: 'As part of the requirement to make finest possible usage of taxpayers' money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically minimized and might see the size of the centre decline by around half.'

The deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 workers 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, in the middle of plans 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 running officer Emily Lawson (best) are among the most current managers to sign up with the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim president at the start of April, will set up a transition group 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 upsetting for our staff, and we have considerable difficulties and modifications ahead.'We intend to have a transition team in place to start on the 1st April 2025 to help lead us through this period.'

Ms Pritchard said in a note to personnel, seen by the Health Service Journal: 'In the last number of weeks, I have actually said I believe the time is ideal for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support local NHS systems and suppliers to provide for patients and drive the federal government's reform concerns.'

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

Mr Streeting stated: 'I 'd like to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their commitment as public servants, and their operate in particular helping steer the NHS through the pandemic.

'I've taken pleasure in dealing 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 change for our NHS. 'With a more powerful relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will work together with the speed and urgency needed to meet the scale of the difficulty.'

Since June last year, NHS England utilized simply under 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, including irreversible, momentary and consultancy. The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, consisting of the UK Health Security Agency. These are both around 30 per cent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief monetary officer Julian Kelly has also added 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

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

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

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

'Fixing a damaged NHS needs an appropriate strategy, with central bodies resourced and managed effectively so local services are supported.

'Rushing through cuts brings a threat of developing a further, more complicated mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very people who need it most, the clients.'

Matthew Taylor, president of the NHS Confederation, said: 'These modifications are taking place at a scale and pace not expected to start with, but offered the substantial cost savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes good sense to decrease locations of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

'NHS England has actually currently provided considerable cost savings and helped to deliver improvements in performance, but national bodies and regional NHS leaders know that more is required this year.

'These modifications represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS's national architecture in more than a years. It is very important that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this transformation as the instant next steps become clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be created.

'This must be about doing things in a different way for the advantage of regional neighborhoods as both clients and taxpayers, in addition to for staff ahead of yearly study results on Thursday that are yet again expected to reveal the extreme obstacles they deal with.'

Wes Streeting