LOCAL NHS bosses will today be told to cut half their office staff to save £1billion a year to fund thousands more ops.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is demanding the integrated care boards get rid of 50 per cent of non-medical employees.
There are 42 NHS boards in England that control how taxpayers’ cash is spent by GPs and hospitals.
Ministers estimate shedding 18,000 jobs by 2029, with redundancies costing about £1billion.
The Department of Health said the annual £1billion wage savings will fund 116,000 more procedures a year.
He suggested the cuts a while ago — but now they are a reality as he knows to expect little from the Budget.
Mr Streeting will tell the NHS Providers conference: “I want to reassure taxpayers that every penny they are being asked to pay will be spent wisely.
“We’re pushing down on the accelerator and slashing unnecessary bureaucracy to reinvest the savings in frontline care.
“It won’t happen overnight but, with our investment and modernisation, we will rebuild our NHS.”
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, said: “This is good news for NHS staff and patients.
“It will free up resources to invest in frontline services and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy that slows us down and gets in the way of improving care.”
Daniel Elkeles, chief of NHS Providers on behalf of hospital bosses, said: “This means planned redundancies can now go ahead.
“It allows some funding to be brought forward in order to generate future savings to go into frontline care.”
