"Labour's radical reorganisation of the NHS has descended into chaos, a union has said, as a huge programme of job cuts has been halted amid a row over who will foot the 1bn bill. The NHS's 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) in England were due to make up to 12,500 of their 25,000 staff redundant by the end of the year as a result of health service cost-cutting. But growing numbers of ICBs have had to pause their plans to reduce their workforce because they cannot afford to cover the costs involved, which are as high as 42m each."
"Jon Restell, the chief executive of Managers in Partnership, which represents many ICB staff, said: The redundancy bill will be eye-watering and well beyond the means of ICBs, even before their budgets are slashed by up to half. The government will have to pick up the tab. Our members are increasingly distressed and desperate for answers. ICBs are keeping staff informed as best they can but there isn't much they can say amidst the chaos."
The NHS reorganisation led to plans for up to 25,000 redundancies across 42 integrated care boards (ICBs), with around 12,500 expected from ICB staff. Many ICBs have paused redundancy programmes because severance bills can reach as high as £42m each and cannot be met without breaching this year’s budgets. NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care are seeking emergency Treasury funding to cover severance costs. Staff have been left anxious, confused and taking sick leave amid the uncertainty. ICBs were instructed to cut running costs by 50% and to finalise staff reductions by the end of December.
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