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

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

Health secretary Wes Streeting is also looking for to tighten his control over the NHS, provide better value for taxpayers and free-up cash for the frontline.

Three more NHS England board members yesterday announced they will give up at the end of this month, following the current resignations of chief executive Amanda Pritchard and nationwide medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The most current leaders to sign up with the exodus are Julian Kelly, the chief financial officer, Emily Lawson, the chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, the chief shipment officer and national director for vaccination and screening.

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

It was established by the Tories in 2013 to give it higher political independence but Mr Streeting is eager to restore tighter control from within his Department.

NHS England said in a declaration: 'As part of the requirement to make finest possible usage of taxpayers' money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be drastically reduced and could see the size of the centre reduction by around half.'

The deeper staffing cuts follow a reduction of about 4,000 to 6,000 employees 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 seeking 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 chief running officer Emily Lawson (right) are among the current employers to sign up with the exodus

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

He stated: 'We understand that today's news is disturbing for our personnel, and we have considerable challenges and changes ahead.'We aim to have a shift group in place to start on the first April 2025 to assist 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 actually stated I believe the time is right for radical reform of the size and functions of the centre to finest support regional NHS systems and companies to provide for clients and drive the government's reform top priorities.'

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

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

'I have actually taken pleasure in dealing with each of them over the last 8 months and I've been impressed by their skill and focus on providing enhancement for clients and .

'We are getting in a duration of important improvement for our NHS. 'With a stronger relationship 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 challenge.'

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

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

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

UNISON head of health Helga Pile stated: 'Staff will be naturally worried about this unexpected modification of direction.

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

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

'Fixing a broken NHS needs an appropriate plan, with main bodies resourced and managed efficiently so local services are supported.

'Rushing through cuts brings a risk of producing an even more, more complicated mess and might ultimately hold the NHS back. That would pull down the very individuals who need it most, the clients.'

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, stated: 'These modifications are taking place at a scale and speed not expected to start with, but offered the huge cost savings that the NHS requires 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 actually already delivered substantial savings and assisted to provide improvements in efficiency, but nationwide bodies and local NHS leaders understand that more is needed this year.

'These changes represent the most significant reshaping of the NHS's national architecture in more than a decade. It is essential that local NHS organisations and other bodies are associated with this change as the instant next steps end up being clearer, so that a maximum operating model can be created.

'This must be about doing things in a different way for the advantage of regional communities as both patients and taxpayers, along with for staff ahead of annual survey results on Thursday that are yet again expected to show the severe difficulties they face.'

Wes Streeting