West London's NHS Planning Group Forced to Make Cut Backs
Integrated Care Board says there will be no impact on services
15 Marylebone Road, HQ for NHS North West London. Picture: Google Streetview
September 18, 2024
A healthcare organisation serving 2.1 million people across west London has said there will be ‘no changes to services’ despite having to implement a significant cut in spending.
The North West London Integrated Care Board (NWL ICB), which plans health services for the area, said NHS England had required all ICBs across the country to make approximately a 30 per cent reduction in building and staff management costs.
A spokesperson for the ICB said the board would like to thank staff and partners for their understanding “during what has been understandably a challenging period”.
The NWL ICB covers a large patch of eight boroughs; Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster.
At a Hammersmith and Fulham Health and Wellbeing Board meeting last week, Sue Roostan, the Director for the borough at the ICB, said the organisation had undergone a year-long restructure due to the cut.
She said as a result, the local team has lost six posts. “So we are really having to shift and do things differently as well as stop doing some things,” she said.
The ICB has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) staff affected by the reorganisation within the Hammersmith and Fulham team have either moved into another role or are taking voluntary redundancy.
Ms Roostan presented an outline of the ICB’s new structure and shortened list of values, which have been cut to four key sentiments; inclusive, respectful, innovative, and empowering.
Commenting on the restructure itself, Ms Roostan said it had been a “long and quite exhausting process for everybody, because there’s been a lot of people that have either been made redundant or retired or moved on because of the process, so it’s been quite a difficult time for people within the NHS at the moment”.
An NHS NW London spokesperson said, “NHS England required that all integrated care boards across the country make approximately a 30 per cent reduction in building and staff management costs, and NHS North West London has been undergoing an organisational design process over the last few months in order to do so.
“No changes to services are occurring as a result of this restructure and patients should continue using services as normal.
“The restructure of the Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Team was part of this process and individuals affected within the local team have either successfully secured another role within the ICB in another team, or are taking voluntary redundancy.
“Moving forward, we will continue to work at a borough level as those local partnerships are key to improving the health and wellbeing of Hammersmith and Fulham residents. They will be backed up by specialist teams working at a north west London level who will provide additional resources and expertise.
“We would like to take the opportunity to thank our staff and partners in Hammersmith and Fulham for their support and understanding during what has been understandably a challenging period.”
In correspondence published on the NHS England website, dated March 2 2023, health chiefs wrote the ‘financial context’ of the NHS meant spending had to be reviewed. It continued to state the baseline Running Cost Allowances (RCAs) for ICBs “will then be subject to a 30% real terms reduction per ICB by 2025/26, with at least 20% to be delivered in 2024/25”.
NHS England was approached for comment.
In the same meeting last week, the Board approved Hammersmith and Fulham’s new Health and Wellbeing Plan for 2024-2029. The final document has been compiled with input from groups including residents and businesses, and features a series of priorities for the next five years from addressing health issues ‘innovatively and proactively’ to amplifying community strengths to help tackle inequalities.
Ben Lynch – Local Democracy Reporter