The impending merger of NHS England, NHS Digital and Health Education England is expected to reduce the total workforce by 30-40%, according to the minister for health and social care.
Robert Jenrick MP provided the estimate in an answer to a parliamentary question from Labour MP Alex Norris, who asked what assessment the Department of Health and Social Care has made of the effect of the merger on the workforce and the impact on contractors.
Jenrick said the merger is scheduled for April of next year and the reduction in size should be complete by the end of 2023-24, although the details have yet to be determined.
“A programme to oversee the merger has been established,” he said. “The organisational design work currently underway will determine the impact on the current workforce and also the future workforce needs of the new organisation.”
The plan to merge the organisations was first announced in November 2021. It also involved NHSX – the policy unit for digital within DHSC – which was integrated into the NHS England transformation directorate in February of this year.
NHS Digital began life as the Health and Social Care Information Centre in 2005 and is responsible for providing digital services for the NHS and social care. Since the plan for the merger was announced it has continued to launch new initiatives, such as the creation of a new procurement framework for innovative technologies in primary care and trials in the use of wireless technologies.
