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

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise looking for 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 yesterday revealed they will give up at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of president Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The 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 shipment officer and nationwide director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the national quango charged with supervising the daily running of the health service and its long-term technique.

It was developed by the Tories in 2013 to provide it higher political self-reliance however Mr Streeting is eager to gain back tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England said in a statement: 'As part of the need to make finest possible use of taxpayers' cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically decreased and might see the size of the centre decrease 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 also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, amid 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 amongst the most recent employers to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will become interim president at the start of April, will set up a transition group within NHS England to 'lead the radical reduction and reshaping of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care'.

He said: 'We know that today's news is upsetting for our personnel, and we have substantial challenges and modifications ahead.'We intend to have a shift group in place to begin on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.'

Ms Pritchard stated in a note to staff, seen by the Health Service Journal: 'In the last couple of weeks, I have stated I believe the time is ideal for extreme reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support regional NHS systems and providers to provide for clients and drive the government's reform priorities.'

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

Mr Streeting stated: 'I wish to put on record my thanks to Julian, Emily and Steve for their as public servants, and their operate in specific assisting steer the NHS through the pandemic.

'I have actually enjoyed working with each of them over the last eight months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and concentrate on providing enhancement for patients and personnel.

'We are going into a duration of vital change for our NHS. 'With a stronger relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will collaborate with the speed and seriousness needed to fulfill the scale of the obstacle.'

Since June last year, NHS England utilized simply under 15,000 full-time comparable staff, consisting of permanent, short-lived 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 percent more than in January 2020.

NHS England chief financial officer Julian Kelly has also added his name to leaders resigning from their positions

Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS nationwide medical director, revealed recently he would step down this summer season

UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: 'Staff will be not surprisingly concerned about this abrupt modification of instructions.

'The variety 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 endless rounds of reorganisation. What was already a stressful prospect has now ended up being more like a nightmare.

'Fixing a damaged NHS requires an appropriate strategy, with main bodies resourced and handled effectively so local services are supported.

'Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing an even more, more complicated mess and might eventually 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, said: 'These modifications are occurring at a scale and rate not anticipated to begin with, however given the big cost savings that the NHS requires to make this year it makes good sense to minimize areas of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

'NHS England has already provided significant savings and helped to deliver improvements in efficiency, but nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is required this year.

'These changes represent the most significant reshaping of the NHS's nationwide architecture in more than a years. It is necessary that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this transformation as the immediate next actions become clearer, so that an optimal operating design can be produced.

'This need to be about doing things in a different way for the benefit of local neighborhoods as both patients and taxpayers, in addition to for staff ahead of yearly survey results on Thursday that are yet again expected to reveal the severe challenges they deal with.'

Wes Streeting