NHSE’ chief executive Sir Jim Mackey last week (May 9) revealed that ICB job cuts must be “done” by “the end of quarter three”.
In March, Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the momentous announcement that the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) is set to absorb NHSE over a two-year period.
Read more: Cuts and commissioning: What does NHSE’s axing mean for ICBs?
At the time, NHSE chief financial officer and deputy chief executive Julian Kelly confirmed that as part of the move ICBs must headcounts by 50% – leaving some 12,500 ICB staff at risk of losing their jobs.
When questioned on ICB cuts at a Medical Journalists’ Association (MJA) event last week (May 8), Mackey admitted that while he “still really want this to be enacted in this financial year…none of this is nailed down to the point where it’s a completely fixed commitment”.
“The thing needs to be done”
“[NHSE] wanted to set out a program of how [it] would change over this period for staff – ‘I’m in department x, that means I’m going to get restructured in August or October, or November, or whatever,” Mackey said.
“There’s a very understandable worry and need for staff to know when that happens so that they can cope and they can manage themselves through the process and manage their lives,” he added.
Read more: IN FULL: Starmer reveals plans to abolish NHSE
“We’ve not been able to do that just yet” – “I’m pretty confident…we’ll catch up in these next few months,” he said.
Mackey admitted that the cuts are not yet “locked into financial plans”.
“But really, we need all this done well before [the end of the financial year]” – “nearing the end of quarter three, really the thing needs to be done,” he said.
Read more: New primary care medical director role as 2-year NHSE axing begins
“There’s a lot of human beings involved, it has an impact on our lives, there’s HR rules and legislation we’ve got to comply with,” he added.
But he stressed that “this isn’t stuff we can think about for two years, its not the NHS having a think amongst itself and decide how it avoids a change”.
“The public can’t accept that, society shouldn’t accept that,” he added.
Pharmacists affected?
The comment came after Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) director Paul Day told C+D in March that “most pharmacists at risk will probably likely be in the 42 ICBs rather than the central and regional NHSE organisation”.
Meanwhile speaking in the House of Commons on the day of the announcement, health secretary Wes Streeting said that ICB chairs and chief executives had been told to “get an immediate grip on the £5-6 billion deficit that was already being baked in” to the next year’s budget.
Read more: NHSE scrapped: ‘Fresh start or just more political chaos?’
“They have become so accustomed to the idea that governments will just come in and bail them out,” he said.
“We are bringing…financial discipline to the NHS, we will not tolerate deficits,” he added.
