Funding for redundancies is to come from ‘within the existing funding settlement’ for the NHS, the Government has confirmed.
However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) added they will ‘not be cutting any investment to the NHS, frontline or backroom’ and that ‘further detail will come forward in the coming weeks’.
It’s been reported that redundancies across ICBs are estimated to cost around £1bn in total, after ICBs were told to make 50% cuts to their systems in March.
Chief executive of NHS England Sir Jim Mackey said in September that there had ‘never’ been a central pot of money for this, but that NHS England was trying to secure funding from the Treasury for it.
Health leaders had previously called for clarity on redundancy funding, amid concerns over the impact of the cuts on system priorities, with systems pausing the process due to the uncertainty.
Health secretary Wes Streeting is expected to speak to the NHS Providers conference tomorrow (12 November) and ‘give the go ahead’ to NHS leaders to deliver the cuts to both NHS England and ICBs.
The DHSC announcement stated that funding arrangements have now been agreed with the Treasury and will come from within the existing funding settlement.
At the conference, Mr Streeting is expected to say: ‘The government is protecting investment in the NHS at the budget, worth an extra £29 billion to the health service. I want to reassure taxpayers that every penny they are being asked to pay will be spent wisely.
‘We have already cut waiting lists for the first year in 15 years, recruited 2,500 more GPs, and cut ambulance waits for patients with conditions like heart attacks and strokes. Our investment to offer more services at evenings and weekends, arm staff with modern technology, and improving staff retention is working. At the same time, cuts to wasteful spending on things like recruitment agencies saw productivity grow by 2.4% in the most recent figures – we are getting better bang for our buck.
‘We’re now pushing down on the accelerator and slashing unnecessary bureaucracy, to reinvest the savings in frontline care. It won’t happen overnight, but with our investment and modernisation, we will rebuild our NHS so it is there for you when you need it once again.’
The DHSC confirmed the merger with NHS England would happen within two years, as planned.
