Health Minister Steve Barclay to cut one in six government healthcare jobs ‘to free up money for frontline NHS services’

Steve Barclay has disposed of hundreds of civil servants to free up money for the NHS, insiders said today.

The Ministry of Health and Social Care’s workforce is now one-sixth smaller than it was nine months ago, employing just 3,316 mandarins.

Sources close to the health minister said he has “always been interested in cutting back bureaucracy.”

Barclay’s war on waste aims to reduce waiting lists, which have risen to an all-time high after months of NHS strikes, insiders said.

As of October 31, 2022, there were some 3,978 officers employed by the department – ​​the beginning of Mr. Barclay’s first full week in his current position.

But as of July 18, the total number had been reduced to 3,316, according to statistics released by the Department of Health in response to a question from Sir Jacob Rees Mogg.

Health Secretary Will Quince, answering the question, noted that “temporary” workers, seconded workers, recent graduates of the Civil Service Fast Track scheme, and job openings were not included.

Figures show that the government recruits just under 1,000 graduates for the program each year.

A government source said The Telegraph today: “Steve has always been interested in cutting red tape and getting taxpayer value for money.

“This goes all the way back to when he was a member of the Public Accounts Committee after he was first elected to Parliament and his time as First Secretary of the Treasury.”

They added: ‘In just a few months as health minister, he has been able to significantly reduce the number of civil servants in the Whitehall department, while ensuring that more money goes to the front lines.

“Whether that’s more money for doctors and nurses or the latest technology, all aimed at shortening waiting lists and getting better treatment faster.”

The Telegraph understands that the workforce crackdown was carried out through reductions in the use of consultants, voluntary redundancies and a hiring freeze for departments.

It comes after Mr Barclay in June ordered hospital bosses to hire more doctors and nurses instead of managers.

He told NHS trusts in England that the £2.4bn of additional money being injected to help stabilize the troubled healthcare system as part of the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan should be spent on bringing in clinical staff.

According to the 15-year personnel plan it is hoped that more than 300,000 additional nurses, doctors, paramedics and other health workers will be trained and working by 2036/37.

A record 7.47 million people are currently waiting for routine hospital treatment, and the NHS’s figures for the end of May are also higher than last month’s 7.42 million.

This is the highest number since registration for the NHS in England began in 2007.

Last year, ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled plans for the nearly 20 percent reduction in the overall workforce to “prune” the civil service back to 2016 levels.

But Rishi Sunak later announced that he had scrapped the target of 91,000 government layoffs and ordered departments to look for efficiency cuts instead.

Downing Street said staff cuts were needed but the government would not put a specific number on it.

The plan has pledged to increase the NHS’s permanent workforce by nearly a million by 2036/2037. It expects an increase from 1.4 million to between 2.2 and 2.3 million

The number of medical training places will be doubled in 2031/32, bringing the total number of places to 15,000. GP training places in England for junior doctors will also increase by 50 per cent to 6,000, the NHS’s staffing plan has pledged. Training for pharmacists will also increase by almost 50 percent to approximately 5,000 places for 2031/32. In the meantime, the clinical psychology and child and adolescent psychotherapy training will also be expanded, with an increase of more than a quarter to 1,300 places in 2031

A DHSC spokesperson said: ‘The Minister of Health and Social Care has been working with the department to successfully reduce costs and ensure that more money can be spent on primary care services.’

Craig Mackinlay, Conservative MP for South Thanet, said: ‘Taxpayers should always rejoice when the civil service declines.

“Not only does it liberate skilled people in the private sector, in the productive sector of the economy, it also makes departments leaner and, in my opinion, more effective.

“At many government departments, I often wonder what these people actually do besides create bureaucracy and annoyance to the public that pays taxes for these services. Well done Steve Barclay.’

Meanwhile, Marco Longhi, Conservative MP for Dudley North, added: ‘This government has invested in the NHS like no previous government.

“We are now spending huge amounts of money on our NHS, so much so that the NHS is now the largest employer in Europe.

“I think most people will be very happy with this news, especially as we always seem to be short of doctors and nurses.

“With this money being diverted to the front lines, hopefully people can only experience better outcomes from using this cherished service.”