Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been given the go-ahead to cut 18,000 NHS management and administrative jobs, warning he is 'not running a job creation scheme'. The move, agreed with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, will save £1 billion a year by the end of this Parliament but initially cost £1 billion in redundancy payouts.
The restructure targets back office roles at NHS England, regional NHS centres, and integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs have been asked to make about 12,500 of their 25,000 staff redundant. The government says the cuts will slash 'unnecessary bureaucracy' and redirect funds to frontline care.
Mr Streeting struck a deal with the Treasury allowing the Department of Health and Social Care to overspend its budget by £1 billion this year, to be repaid from future savings. This means less money will be available in 2026/27. The Chancellor rebuffed a plea for an emergency cash injection to cover merger costs.
Speaking on LBC, Mr Streeting said: 'I'm not running a job creation scheme, I'm running a National Health Service... I owe it to every taxpayer to make sure I'm spending their money as carefully as they are.' He added that future savings would be diverted to frontline care, creating more clinical jobs.
The Health Secretary told BBC Breakfast that NHS staff had reported 'too many layers of management' and 'bureaucracy'. He said: 'People want to see the front line prioritised, and that is exactly what we're doing.' Every £1 billion saved in bureaucracy is enough to fund 116,000 extra hip and knee operations.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to make further announcements regarding the health service in the Budget on November 26. Mr Streeting is set to tell health leaders at the NHS Providers conference that the NHS is 'finally on the road to recovery', with waiting lists beginning to fall.
