Hospitals Across England Slash Services Amid NHS Financial Reset

Hospitals across England are cutting staff, closing services, and rationing care as part of a drastic NHS “financial reset” aimed at averting a projected £6.6 billion deficit.

Under orders from NHS England’s new chief executive, Sir Jim Mackey, trusts are being forced to deliver “eye-watering” savings during the 2025–26 financial year, with some needing to cut as much as 12% of their entire budgets.

The cost-saving measures include shutting rehabilitation centres, scaling back diabetes services for young people, reducing end-of-life care beds, and cutting back on “virtual wards” that offer hospital-at-home services. Many trusts are planning to slash up to 1,500 posts each — including clinical roles — even as they warn that this could harm patient safety and increase waiting times.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, called the situation “extremely challenging” and warned that even high-profile government promises, such as improving waiting times for surgery and A&E care, could be at risk.

A survey of 114 trusts found that nearly half are already cutting services, with another 43% considering it. About 37% are actively cutting clinical posts, while over half are considering closing some services.

Matthew Trainer, chief executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge trust, told staff that his trust faces £61 million in savings this year, double last year’s figure. The trust plans to cut 115 corporate posts and reduce spending on agency staff by over a third — a move he admitted could have “adverse effects on patients.”

The Department of Health and Social Care defended the shake-up, stating, “We invested an extra £26 billion to fix the broken health and care system we inherited… We have underlined the need for trusts to cut bureaucracy to invest even further in the frontline.”