Plans to cut staff numbers in half at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care were revealed the other day in the middle of extreme cost-cutting measures.

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is likewise seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, provide much better worth for taxpayers and free-up money for the frontline.

Three more NHS England board members the other day announced they will quit at the end of this month, following the recent resignations of president Amanda Pritchard and national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The latest leaders to join the exodus are Julian Kelly, the officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

NHS England is the nationwide quango entrusted with managing the daily running of the health service and its long-lasting technique.

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

NHS England stated in a declaration: 'As part of the requirement to make finest possible use of taxpayers' cash to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically lowered and might see the size of the centre decline by around half.'

The much deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 employees at NHS England over the previous two years and about 800 at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also seeking to tighten his control over the NHS, amidst strategies to cut personnel 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 chief running officer Emily Lawson (right) are amongst the current bosses to join the exodus

Sir Jim Mackey, who will end up being interim president at the start of April, will establish a shift team within NHS England to 'lead the radical reduction and reshaping of the centre with the Department of Health and Social Care'.

He stated: 'We understand that today's news is disturbing for our staff, and we have considerable difficulties and modifications ahead.'We intend to have a transition group in place to begin on the first April 2025 to help lead us through this duration.'

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

She said Mr Streeting had actually asked Sir Jim and Penny Dash, the inbound NHS England chair, to 'lead this work, delivering significant changes 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 work in particular helping steer the NHS through the pandemic.

'I've delighted in dealing with each of them over the last 8 months and I have actually been impressed by their ability and focus on delivering improvement for patients and staff.

'We are getting in a period of important transformation for our NHS. 'With a more powerful relationship in between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, we will interact with the speed and urgency needed to satisfy the scale of the difficulty.'

Since June in 2015, NHS England employed just under 15,000 full-time comparable personnel, including permanent, short-term and consultancy. The Department of Health and Social Care had around 9,000, including the UK Health Security Agency. These are both around 30 percent more than in January 2020.

NHS England primary financial officer Julian Kelly has likewise 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 season

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

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

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

'Fixing a broken NHS needs an appropriate strategy, with central bodies resourced and managed successfully so regional services are supported.

'Rushing through cuts brings a danger of producing an even more, more complex mess and could ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who require it most, the patients.'

Matthew Taylor, primary executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: 'These changes are taking place at a scale and pace not expected to start with, but offered the substantial savings that the NHS needs to make this year it makes sense to lower areas of duplication at a nationwide level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre.

'NHS England has already delivered significant cost savings and helped to deliver enhancements in performance, but nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders know that more is needed this year.

'These modifications represent the biggest reshaping of the NHS's nationwide architecture in more than a years. It is very important that regional NHS organisations and other bodies are included in this transformation as the instant next actions become clearer, so that a maximum operating design can be produced.

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

Wes Streeting