Thousands of NHS staff in England are set to lose their jobs after a deal was reached with the Treasury allowing the health service to overspend this year to cover redundancy payments.
The agreement clears the way for around 18,000 administrative and managerial roles to be cut as part of major reforms aimed at reducing bureaucracy and redirecting funds to frontline services.
NHS England, the body that oversees the health service, will be merged into the Department of Health and Social Care within two years.
Health Secretary,Wes Streeting said the decision was necessary to “prioritise patients and frontline care,” adding that the NHS had “too many layers of management and bureaucracy.”
He said savings from the restructuring would eventually fund more operations and improve patient services.
The Treasury had initially refused to provide extra funding for the £1bn redundancy bill but has now allowed the NHS to exceed its budget temporarily, with the expectation that savings in future years will cover the cost.
Under the reforms, local integrated care boards which plan regional health services will see their staff reduced by 50%.
The government said cutting bureaucracy could save up to £1bn annually, enough to fund 116,000 additional hip and knee operations.
However, unions have warned the cuts could harm essential public health and care coordination work.
The Royal College of Nursing said making thousands of skilled professionals redundant was “a false economy” that could weaken patient care.
