Labour plan to reform NHS plunged into chaos by '£1bn redundancy payoff'
The Government’s bid to overhaul the NHS has been thrown into doubt after reports emerged Labour had failed to set aside the cash required to make thousands of people redundant.
Listen to this article
Earlier this year, the prime minister and health secretary Wes Streeting announced the abolition of NHS England in an attempt to make Britain’s health service more efficient and less bureaucratic.
Sir Keir Starmer said the plan would allow around £1.1 billion to be funnelled back into frontline healthcare.
However, according to a report in The Times, the Government failed to set aside the money required to make 12,500 people redundant, which they claim could cost between £600 million and £1 billion.
The 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICB), which oversee paying local NHS services across the country, were told to slash their management budgets in half by December.
They were told the money would be provided to make the required redundancies, but this pot of cash reportedly doesn’t exist.
In turn, ICBs have blocked efforts to cut their budgets.
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, told The Times: “We mustn’t expect redundancies to be funded from money that was supposed to be spent on patient care.”
NHS England is reportedly set to call on the Treasury to provide the money to make the required redundancies.
This money may not arrive until the next financial year in April, 2026.
One manager said: “There is no doubt this will cause disruption that affects patients.
“It will mean delays in decisions being made. In some areas like safeguarding, which is being really badly affected, it could have serious consequences and is a huge risk for patients.”
Another manager added: “It feels like a total bin fire at the moment.
“I have known for weeks my role will be deleted and we have told other staff they will lose their jobs, and yet we’ve been told the national team is in chaos and there is no funding agreed to pay for it. But they have asked us not to tell the staff, who are all just left in limbo.
“This whole process is creating so much waste and inefficiency for the NHS, which is completely ironic.”
The Treasury is yet to comment on reports.