Ministers have admitted they did not assess the impact of axing thousands of NHS managers before pushing ahead, prompting charges that the controversial cull is “reckless” and “a huge risk”.
The NHS’s 42 regional integrated care boards (ICBs) in England have been told to slash their running costs by 50% by the end of the year, in a move that will lead to about 12,500 job losses. It is a key part of government plans to radically overhaul the health service, which include abolishing NHS England and using savings from a massive cut in management posts to improve its finances and free up funding for frontline care.
