ITV News political correspondent Harry Horton was in Hull where the PM made the surprise announcement
Around 9,000 jobs are set to be axed after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced NHS England will be abolished to “cut bureaucracy” and bring management of the health service “back into democratic control”.
“I don’t see why decisions about £200 billion of taxpayer money on something as fundamental to our security as the NHS, should be taken by an arms length body,” he said in a speech in Hull.
“I’m bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms length body NHS England,” the PM revealed.
Health secretary Wes Streeting told MPs in the House of Commons shortly after the announcement that “today, we are abolishing the biggest quango in the world”, calling the move “the biggest decentralisation of power in the history of our national health service.”
On staff reduction, he added: “The size of NHS England, there are 15,300 staff; in the Department of Health and Social Care 3,300; and across both we’re looking to reduce the overall headcount by 50%.”
NHS England is the body that operates separately to the Department for Health and Social Care, and is responsible for delivering healthcare in England. It was formed in 2012 under the coalition government.
The health secretary said: “This is the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous 2012 reorganisation, which led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction, and most expensive NHS in history.
“When money is so tight, we can’t justify such a complex bureaucracy with two organisations doing the same jobs. We need more doers, and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline.”
ITV News has obtained emails sent to NHS England staff from Streeting and outgoing NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard.
Streeting’s message said: “I know that this will be unsettling and you will all have views about the process. This is a change and change is unsettling.”
“The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the Department,” he said.
“This is not a reflection of the many dedicated and talented people across both the Department and NHS England.
“I know that this will be unsettling and you will all have views about the process. This is a change and change is unsettling.”
NHS England staff were told earlier this week that the workforce would be dramatically shrunk, with half of staff at risk of losing their jobs, along with a big chunk of senior management.
Last month NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard announced she was stepping down from the role.
Pritchard had been the head of NHS England since 2021. An email from Pritchard to NHS England employees on Thursday, seen by ITV News, said “we recognise this is very difficult news, particularly as it comes off the back of multiple announcements over the last few months”.
“Understandably this is going to be unsettling,” the message read, inviting colleagues to an all staff meeting on Monday.
Pritchard had come under criticism from MPs in recent months, and faced scrutiny in January from the Health and Social Care Committee, who accused her of being “complacent” and lacking the “drive and dynamism” needed to reform the NHS.
Reacting to the announcement, former Conservative health minister Lord Bethell posted on X saying “I wish we’d had the guts to do this”.
MPs from across different parties appeared to welcome the decision, with former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt saying “I commend the boldness of today’s announcement”.
Streeting told MPs in the House of Commons “it must be so painful” for the Conservatives “watching a Labour government do the things the only ever talked about.”
Health Minister Karin Smyth says staff morale is low, but appetitie for improvement remains high.
Responding to claims many staff in NHS England were anxious over their jobs, health minister Karin Smyth admitted: “Morale is low, that’s bad for paients, but I think the optimism about fixing the NHS for the future is really strongly there.
“Keir Starmer himself has been a public servant, he understands that change is difficult. He’s led that personally, but he also understands that ultimately you’ve got to take the right choices to make these public services fit for the future.” She added.
Starmer made the surprise announcement about NHS England during a speech on plans to reform the “flabby” state and replace the work of some civil servants with Artificial Intelligence.
Starmer said in a speech in East Yorkshire that the Civil Service had grown by 130,000 since the Brexit referendum but services had not improved and it was “overstretched, unfocussed and unable to deliver the security people need”.
As well as vowing to cut the cost of regulation by 25%, the PM promised to refocus the state on his key missions and create “an active government that takes care of the big questions, so people can get on with their lives”.
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