NHS Digital jobs face axe in bid to streamline ‘efficiency’
THE NHS Digital office at Smedley Hydro is to be “scaled back significantly” as part of plans to save
500 jobs nationally.
A leaked report revealed the plans, which will also mean the Southport site used only for supporting data access services, and the Southampton office closed entirely.
About 100 people work in the offices at Smedley, but NHS bosses remain tight-lipped on how this figure may change.
According to Digital Health News, which obtained a copy of the new NHS Digital location strategy, the changes will also affect home-based or remote workers, who are at greater risk of losing their jobs. As part of the ongoing restructure, NHS Digital in Southampton will close next year in a move to concentrate its workforce in Leeds, London and Exeter.
The restructure was first announced last year by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, when it was said 500 IT jobs would be lost. Offices in Bradford, Bolton, Reading, Redditch and Washington have already closed.
The document confirms that current NHS Digital staff based in its Southampton and Southport offices will be affected by the changes.
It reads: “Our workforce design needs to be underpinned by our location strategy, which is based on our business delivery requirement, operational efficiency, the location of our current staff and where we can source the best talent for the future.
“NHS Digital has a location profile which has developed over time as different historic organisations have merged and joined together, without a clear organisational location strategy.
“Over subsequent years, NHS Digital has demonstrated it can achieve being close to its customers’ needs and delivering at a national scale, while the need for regional offices has largely dissipated. While we have maintained these locations in the past, the time is right to address this.”
NHS Digital did not respond to a request for comment.