Health: 130 NHS managers face axe to cut costs

MORE than 130 managers at a Yorkshire NHS trust are facing the axe.

Nearly 5.7m will be saved with the departure of 134 top officials from NHS Leeds, which spends 1.2bn each year.

The cuts of 31 per cent in management costs incurred in 2009-10 will see 53 posts go by March, 38 axed in 2011-12 and 43 in the following 12 months.

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The move is part of huge cuts ordered by the Government in management at primary care trusts and pre-dates a decision to axe PCTs altogether in a controversial shake-up of the NHS which will see spending decisions handed to GPs.

NHS Leeds chief executive John Lawlor said: "NHS Leeds management teams, trust board and staff representatives are currently discussing a number of options including voluntary arrangements for severance, redundancy and retirement.

"To date we have managed to deliver the bulk of management cost savings for this financial year through a vacancy control process. This reduces the need for any compulsory redundancies."

Ministers yesterday also announced the number of health quangos will be slashed by half. Those facing the axe include the Health Protection Agency, the National Patient Safety Agency and the Appointments Commission, which employs 56 people in Leeds.

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Other bodies will be streamlined and key functions returned to the Department of Health, other agencies or awarded to private firms in a savings package of 180m by 2014-15.

Andrea Sutcliffe, chief executive at the Appointments Commission, said: "I am disappointed that this decision has been made, but I recognise that it is the consequence of significant policy changes made by the Coalition Government. I am very proud of the organisation, our staff and our achievements."

Peter Walsh, chief executive of the charity Action against Medical Accidents, said he was concerned work on patient safety could be "watered down".

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Over the years the sector has grown to the point where overlap between organisations and duplication of effort have produced a needless bureaucratic web.

"By making sure that the right functions are being carried out at the appropriate level, we will free up significant savings to support frontline NHS services."

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