More than 500 staff in Greater Manchester could now be at risk as the region’s NHS has been ordered to save millions, but MPs say they are being left in limbo for months while the government has ‘no clear plan for what comes next’ in huge reforms
The government’s attempt to cut red tape could also mean that patients might not see desperately-needed improvements to the NHS anytime soon(Image: PA)
Hundreds of NHS staff in Greater Manchester are still fearing for their jobs months after the government announced it is abolishing NHS England.
MPs say patients and staff are being left in limbo as the government has no clear plan on how the reforms will be achieved, nor how it will improve struggling frontline care.
NHS Greater Manchester was told to come up with a plan by the end of the month on how it will save £41 million from its staff budget under the government’s reforms. The cuts being demanded mean hundreds in the region could be at risk of losing their jobs.
Sir Keir Starmer announced in March that the body responsible for overseeing the health service would be shut down, and its functions brought back under the Department of Health and Social Care for the first time in 13 years.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that the number of staff employed by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, numbering 15,300 and 3,300 respectively, will be cut by 50 per cent – a cumulative reduction of around 9,000 roles.
But since the government’s declaration, there has been lacking detail. NHS staff have been stranded with an uncertain future for months already, and there is no ‘clear plan for what comes next’ from those in power, says the cross-party group of MPs.
Getting rid of the organisation dubbed ‘the world’s largest quango’ marks an attempt by the government to slash red tape and crack down on ‘wasteful duplication’. The government said a joint board had already started detailed planning.
But the Public Accounts Committee, a cross-party group of MPs, said it was concerned about the uncertainty being caused by the upcoming reforms. The committee urged the government to set out a clear plan within the next three months, reports the BBC.
Committee chair and Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the changes to NHS England and local health boards amounted to a major structural reform.
He said strong decision-making and experienced staff would be vital to manage a period of “huge pressure” for the NHS.
“It has been two months since the government’s decision to remove what, up until now, has been seen as a key piece of machinery, without articulating a clear plan for what comes next – and the future for patients and staff remains hazy,” he added.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer(Image: PA)
Alongside the changes at a national level, the 42 regional health boards responsible for planning services are also having to lose around half of their 25,000 staff.
Last month, NHS Greater Manchester, the region’s oversight body, was told it needs to cut back its costs by 39 per cent. The body will have to save £41m of its £106m ‘total cost of people’.
NHS Greater Manchester employs 1,400 staff in the region, including human resources staff, finance workers, IT staff, patient-facing nurses, and many people involved in planning, purchasing and monitoring both care in hospitals and in the community.
If the 39 per cent reduction is applied to the 1,400 workforce figure, that could mean more than 500 staff in the region are now ‘at risk’.
A severance and redundancy programme is being considered for thousands of NHS staff around the country, and the hundreds that could be at risk in Greater Manchester. The reductions are understood to likely affect non-clinical roles and management staff away from the frontline.
Greater Manchester health bosses, however, already admitted in April that there has been ‘no detail on a national approach to any redundancies associated with these changes’. Questions loom over how such a programme would be funded, as the total cost of redundancy payouts could reach £1bn.
The Manchester Evening News reported in April how NHS Greater Manchester chief executive said of the redundancy and severance programme: “We’re still waiting for any detail from NHS England on the nature of any voluntary redundancy and funding accompanying such a scheme.”
Despite the continued concern expressed by the Public Accounts Committee about the lack of detail, NHS Greater Manchester is still ‘required to submit an outline plan by the end of May [of how the savings will be achieved]’. That plan will involve a ‘reduced headcount and cost’ from that £106m in running costs.
The reduction in staffing by abolishing NHS England is expected to save £400m, while the cut in local health board staff is expected to add another £700-750m. But Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the total cost of redundancy payouts could reach £1bn.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Serious reform is needed to tackle the challenges facing the NHS, which is why we are bringing NHS England back into the department – eliminating wasteful duplication and freeing up hundreds of millions for the frontline.
“We’ve always been up front that completing this process is expected to take around two years, but through our Plan for Change we are getting on with the job so people can once again be confident the NHS is there for them when they need it.”