1,100 jobs are set to be cut
14:09, 18 Aug 2025Updated 17:25, 29 Aug 2025
Royal Stoke University Hospital
Councillors are demanding further information about £306 million of NHS cuts which will see 1,100 jobs slashed. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) has approved an operational plan for 2025/26 involving an 8.2 per cent reduction in its budget, in order to meet nationally-set savings targets.
Members of the health and scrutiny committee at Staffordshire County Council had a second chance to grill ICB officials on the plans, after requesting further details at a meeting last month. But the councillors said they still did not have enough information to properly scrutinise the proposals and understand how they will affect Staffordshire residents.
The plan will involve changes to services such as continuing healthcare and mental health services, along with back office efficiency savings. There is a planned staffing reduction of 1,098 whole time equivalent positions, with around half of these bank and agency workers.
ICB leaders insist that the quality of care will be maintained and could actually improve as a result of some of the changes. But scrutiny committee chair Antonia Orlandi-Fantini said the ICB had failed to provide a detailed breakdown of the savings proposals and an accompanying risk assessment, which had been requested at the previous meeting.
She said: “These are fundamental questions that go to the heart of our responsibilities, and they remain unanswered. We accommodated their request to move the meeting back to today, which gave the officers an extra eight working days to provide us with the details we requested. What we have received from the ICB quite frankly beggars belief. A single page report accompanied by a five page presentation falls dramatically short of the standard expected for a matter of this significance. It lacks the depth, clarity and transparency necessary for us to carry out our responsibilities effectively.”
Claire Finn, interim finance director at the ICB, told the committee that issues such as the NHS industrial action and annual leave had affected their preparations for the meeting. But she insisted that the ICB would soon be sharing project initiation documents and quality impact assessments with councillors, to allow them to further scrutinise the plans.
Ms Finn said: “We did ask for sufficient time to pull together all of the information that has gone through out governance, unfortunately this date couldn’t be moved. We are looking to share the information imminently. You will be able to go through all of the information in terms of making sure that you feel assured.”
The ICB itself will be making £170 million of savings, including £72 million involving back office functions and £98 front line services. Providers such as University Hospitals of North Midlands will be responsible for the rest of the savings.
ICB savings include a £41.6 million reduction in spending on continuing healthcare, and a £8.3 million reduction to mental health services.
Interim deputy chief executive Elizabeth Disney explained that the changes to mental health would include a reduction in out-of-area placements.
She said: “Sometimes we find that the bed capacity we’ve got within our system is not enough to meet demand, and individuals have to be placed outside of our geography. That’s not good for the individuals or their families. But the out of area placements also cost us more. So we think by reducing some of the delays in discharging, we can reduce the out of area placements and bring down our expenditure.”
Ms Disney said there would also be more frequent assessments for section 117 aftercare packages, in order to ensure patients are getting the right level of support.
The job cuts will include a reduction of 54 WTE in medical and dental, and 411 WTE in nursing and midwifery. Chief people officer Mish Irvine said the workforce reductions would be achieved mainly through eliminating duplication, increasing efficiency to reduce the need for temporary staff, and by scrutinising every vacant position.
Councillor Jeremy Pert asked to see operational metrics to better understand the impacts of the changes on frontline services which already under huge pressure.
He said: “The idea that you’re going to take 8.2 per cent out of your operating budget without that impacting on front line services is for the birds, quite frankly. We all know the system is under pressure – it’s difficult to access primary care, it’s difficult to access emergency care, there are long waits for referrals. The thought that you’re not going to affect any of that is far-fetched.”
The ICB officials agreed to return to a subsequent meeting with the information requested by the committee. Committee members also plan to quiz managers from UHNM and other hospital trusts about their savings proposals.
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