Hospitals in England reducing staff and services as part of NHS ‘financial reset’

Hospitals in England are cutting staff, closing services and planning to ration care in order to make “eye-watering” savings demanded by NHS bosses.

Rehabilitation centres face being shut, talking therapies services cut and beds for end-of-life care reduced as part of efforts by England’s 215 NHS trusts to comply with a “financial reset”.

Sir Jim Mackey, NHS England’s new chief executive, has ordered them to make unprecedented savings during 2025-26 to avoid a projected £6.6bn deficit becoming a reality.

But trust bosses are warning that delivering what for some equates to 12% of their entire budget in “efficiency savings” will affect patients and waiting times.

“These [savings targets] are at eye-wateringly high levels”, said Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents trusts. “It’s going to be extremely challenging.”

Trusts have to make, in some cases, deep cuts in order to stay in the black this year, despite the government having given the NHS an extra £22bn for last year and this one.

A survey it conducted among trust leaders found that diabetes services for young people and hospital at-home-style “virtual wards” were among the areas of care likely to be scaled back.

Trusts are planning to shrink their workforce by up to 1,500 posts each to save money, even though they fear that could damage the quality or safety of care provided.

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Source: The Guardian, 9 May 2025