Concerns raised over frontline nursing jobs amid NHS cost savings
Nursing posts could be at risk due to cost-saving exercises in the NHS, health leaders have suggested.
The Government is scrapping NHS England, and local health bodies have been told to make savings of 50%.
But Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, warned that “posts are being looked at” on the front line as efficiency savings are being made “across the board”.
Thousands of jobs across NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care are on the line as a result of the decision to scrap NHS England.
And Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have also been told to cut costs by 50%, with experts saying this will lead to thousands more job cuts.
MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee quizzed health leaders about the plans.
Prof Ranger (pictured) said: “I am genuinely worried about the environment that we’re currently working in, because it isn’t just NHS England that are saving money, and ICBS, it is providers.
“And at this moment in time, it isn’t just NHS England and ICBS being asked to make savings. It’s coming to providers as well. And I know posts are being looked at to take frontline nursing out.
“So there’s a real danger that puts all of this together and that we end up with a real risk. So it’s going to take real skill to get this right.”
She added: “For a lot of people on the front line in hospitals, in organisations, the NHS England and Department is one step away from them… What they are worried about at this moment is the absolute savings that they’re being asked to make within their own services.
“I think they would be less worried if it was just NHSE in the Department that were restructuring, but they are being asked to make significant efficiency savings across the board.
“So there is no-one at this moment in time, in the NHS that isn’t having to really look at their costs, their cost base, and worried about taking posts out.”
She added: “I think the entire system is going to be focusing on money.”
Earlier this month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting was quizzed on whether doctors and nurses could lose their jobs as a result of the struggle with NHS finances.
He said losing medics “should be the last resort for frontline leaders”, adding that prioritising the front line “does mean more doctors, it means more nurses and it means better care and services available to people at the right time in the right place”.
He added: “But the reason why I was being careful about my words is because inevitably there’ll be some service changes where a doctor or nurse might be employed in one place and that may change, but they should find jobs elsewhere.”
In a statement, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “The abolition of NHS England and proposed running cost cuts to integrated care boards are coming at a very challenging time with services struggling to recover performance and begin to work towards the Government’s three shifts.
“The reality is that these cuts will require major changes and they will inevitably make the task of delivering long-term transformation of the NHS much harder.”
Meanwhile Prof Ranger told MPs that the NHS is in “crisis” and the “task in hand cannot be distracted” by the reorganisation of NHS England and the Department of Health.
Dr Jeanette Dickson, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, added: “I think it’s really important that we don’t lose sight of some of the sort of slightly unsexy things that absolutely need to continue unabated in the background.”
This includes cybersecurity; training; medical recruitment and IT projects, she said, adding: “All those things that the centre do at the moment that need to continue, whatever is going to happen.
“What needs to come out is something that works better than it does at the moment, not just a slimmed down version of what we have.”
Patient Safety Commissioner Dr Henrietta Hughes added: “There’s always a risk of a loss of organisational memory, and people being quite distracted by what’s happening.”
Health and Social Committee chair Layla Moran said: “Witnesses emphasised that what matters most to patients and staff is not so much this reorganisation in itself, but what is happening on the front line every day in hospitals and clinics around the country.
“They warned that there are opportunities here if done wisely, but if there is no clear direction and plan, the reorganisation risks being pointless.”
Mr Streeting is to be quizzed by MPs on the decision to scrap NHS England on April 8.
Copyright (c) PA Media Ltd. 2024, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Youtube.
