Overview
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting told NHS leaders the redundancy programme is proceeding, ending months of uncertainty over funding.
- Integrated Care Boards have been authorised to reduce headcount by 50% and will shift to a tighter strategic commissioning role, as NHS England is brought back into the DHSC within two years.
- The one-off redundancy bill is put at about £1bn, with no new Treasury cash; the NHS can overspend this year and is expected to recoup costs from future savings.
- Ministers say cutting bureaucracy will raise £1bn a year by the end of the Parliament for patient services, while detailed implementation plans and timelines are still to come.
- NHS bodies welcomed clarity but unions warned of distress and loss of expertise, with local impacts already visible in Greater Manchester and reports of roughly 3,000 voluntary exits.