NHS to cut 18,000 jobs
Patients will experience better care thanks to billions of pounds saved from ending duplication and slashing bureaucracy across in the NHS, Health Secretary Wes Streeting will announce on Wednesday (12 November).
These reforms are also expected to give more power and autonomy to local leaders and systems – stripping away endless red tape and bureaucracy so they have more freedom to better deliver health services for their local communities.
The size of the centre has more than doubled since 2010. The 2012 reorganisation of the NHS led to worse care for patients at soaring costs, leaving taxpayers paying more but getting less, Streeting said.
He added that the reforms will see around 18,000 administrative posts abolished, saving more than £1 billion that will be redirected to frontline patient care.
Every £1 billion saved in bureaucracy costs is enough to fund an extra 116,000 hip and knee operations.
Today’s announcement comes ahead of next week’s Budget, which will focus on cutting waiting lists, cutting the national debt and cutting the cost of living, and driving more productive and efficient use of taxpayers’ money by rooting out waste in public services.
“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,” said Streeting.
He added that the government has 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,” he said.
