Streeting ‘genuinely sorry’ for anxiety over ‘significant’ NHS England job losses

The Health Secretary thinks frontline staff will back his reforms to the health service

The Health Secretary acknowledged there will be “significant” job losses following the decision to abolish NHS England announced by the Prime Minister on Thursday.

He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that many in the NHS would agree with his criticisms of the “layers of bureaucracy” and “duplication” between his department and NHS England.

But he added: “They would all agree with that, but will there be a lot of people this weekend who are deeply anxious about their futures? Absolutely.

“I’m genuinely sorry about that because we don’t want them to be in that position, but I’ve got to make the changes that are necessary.”

The Government has so far declined to say how many jobs it expects to be shed as a result of the abolition of NHS England, which has overseen the administration of the health service across England since 2012.

Further jobs could also be lost as Mr Streeting indicated he will look to scrap other health-related quangos, writing in The Sunday Telegraph that axing NHS England is “the beginning, not the end”.

On Sunday, he declined to say which bodies could be in the firing line, saying only the decisions will follow publication of a review of regulators by incoming NHS England chairwoman Penny Dash.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, he added: “I’m going after the bureaucracy, not the people who work in it.

“Of course, I can’t sugar-coat the fact that there will be a significant number of job losses and we will want to make sure we are treating people fairly, supporting them properly through that process.

“I’m not criticising them, but I’ve got to make sure the system is well set up.”

He also confirmed integrated care boards will have to cut costs by 50%, saying they had presented him with spending plans that would have been “£5 or £6 billion” over budget even before the start of the new financial year.

He said: “I’m afraid this speaks to the culture that I identified before the general election where the NHS is addicted to overspending, is addicted to running up routine deficits, with the assumption that someone will come along to bail them out.”

Responding to his comments, Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan said: “The Health Secretary is right that the NHS is broken and in need of major reform after years of Conservative failure. The focus must now be on ensuring that scrapping NHS England, and any further cuts, do not have negative impacts on the quality of care for patients.

“The Government must also take the same sense of urgency shown here to social care, and complete their review by the end of the year rather than continuing to kick the can down the road.”

Published: 16/03/2025 by Radio NewsHub