THOUSANDS of NHS office jobs are facing the chop — as three more top-ranking officials resigned yesterday in Labour’s drastic health service reforms.
Back office staff numbers will be cut by half at NHS England and the Department of Health.
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The two organisations have a headcount of almost 20,000, meaning 10,000 could go.
NHS England’s chief financial, operations and delivery officers all quit on Monday.
Julian Kelly, Emily Lawson and Steve Russell, who were paid a combined £545,000 last year, follow the organisation’s medical director and CEO out of the door in Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s blitz.
He is making cuts after a review by Lord Darzi said over-management had become a burden on medical staff.
Mr Streeting will share power between local health boards and civil servants in his department.
He said: “We will work with the speed and urgency needed to meet the scale of the challenge.”
In an email to NHS staff, CEO Amanda Pritchard — who will step down at the end of March — said the shake-up would “eradicate duplication” and free more than £175million.
Her replacement and incoming ‘transition CEO’, Sir James Mackey, is setting up a new transformation team to overhaul NHS England.
He said: “We have significant challenges and changes ahead.”
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