Anyone else in NHS management worried about future job security?

[CollectingAllTheACEs]

Not sure what I want to get out of this thread - perhaps just opinions from others. I've worked in the NHS for 16 years and have worked my way up to an 8a middle management role (after completing a masters while in a previous role). Obviously history tells me that nothing in the NHS stays the same and there have been huge shakeups recently and to come with NHS England, etc. but the Trust I currently work for also has a no compulsory redundancy policy - voluntary redundancy has been offered twice now but it's not beneficial at all for me to take it.

Given the results of the local elections last week I'm becoming increasingly worried about Reform coming into power and their policies towards people like me - I constantly see disparaging remarks around 'middle management with clipboards' and apparently us hindering staff from doing their jobs, implementing bureaucratic red tape, etc. etc. etc. - and Reform seem to be appealing to this nature by apparently removing us and investing more in clinical staff (which of course isn't a bad thing on paper).

HOWEVER, my role is to support those clinical staff in all of their back office functions - finance, performance, investment proposals, etc. If people like me didn't exist anymore then those clinicians would have to spend their time doing my work and not seeing patients. I don't know why that's so difficult to understand.

I think I'd really struggle to find a role in the private sector as well given that where I am now is such a niche role...

I think a lot of the time people think that these things are a lot easier to do than they actually are, hence why they think we're all massively overpaid. Interestingly my job doesn't fit into any of these categories but just today I have been working on:

• A waiting times report to go to the Board
• A report on the results of our latest Staff Survey
• A paper on moving one of our teams into Business Continuity measures
• A business case on a new digital triage system
• Two Quality Impact Assessments around changes to services

If people like me didn't exist, then it would be left to clinical staff to find time to do all of the above as well as seeing patients...

Leaving the NHS won’t be the end of the world. I’ll bet you’ll increase your pay and half your workload.

Because it’s unnecessary to point out to a grown adult that redundancy may result in the inability to pay a mortgage. Moving home also results in high costs of stamp duty and conveyancing fees – not particularly a great idea either if finances are precarious.

Redundancy would stress out almost anyone with almost any degree of mortgage. Stop trying to be clever and start trying to be human.

The NHS pays really well for band 8 careers. More than you’d find in private sector.

The OP is aware of that. She can currently afford her home, expensive though it might be.

You're taking pleasure in someone else's worries. It's that simple - and rather nasty.

Cos there are so many jobs out there paying £60k+ that they're struggling to fill.

I would try not to worry. The NHS shies away from compulsory redundancies as the payoff is so costly (for example, in your case they’d have to give you 16 months pay).

Where I work the battle is to get vacant posts through the board. Unfortunately the high turnover posts are the low banded clinical or essential admin ones we need the most. It would be nice to take an axe through the bloated 8c-9 and VSM group. Which has exploded in recent years and seem to do nothing much of real value. But they don’t leave and the axe never seems to swing up.

There are always going to be people who just don’t understand that the NHS is not just about clinicians treating patients, or that those clinicianS can’t do all the operational or strategic tasks that are essential to the safe running of an NHS trust. I’m surprised no one has mentioned DEIC yet,

OP is is a really worrying time to be in your position. Ignore the posters who think you are raking it for nothing of purpose. Sadly this is one of the reasons Reform are doing so well. A complete lack of critical thinking

It’s probably more balanced than that. With posters experiencing poor management support.

That's a hard part of the conversation

Admin absolutely necessary

Management usually came after us for the things that don't need to be done and in many cases implement methods that get our backs up

Anyway, I wish you all the best OP the private sector is better in many ways - may be worth you looking around if you don't want to take voluntary redundancy

That's usually a better package, though

I had to check the dates.
Labour announced huge management cutbacks in March of 2025.
Band 7 Friend who does NHS management is hustling hard to keep an NHS job and has been worried ever since that announcement. She only started in Feb 2025. I thought all English trusts have been massively restructuring since the March 2025 announcements.

So am confused that OP only just noticed that her NHS management job might be at risk. NHS is constantly restructuring with jobs in theory at risk. How is this news after 16 yrs?

I have a relative whose current job it is to inform people of who is being made redundant in their NHS roles, she hates it. I have another friend in the private sector who is informing half the workforce they are losing their jobs, she is pretty sure she will lose hers and the entire plant will shut down within a year or two. Neither of these people make the decisions, they are lower management that just get that awful job.

My advice would be to focus on what you can control as you can’t decide what government gets into power and how they want to shape the NHS. Things you can do are look at your role and determine what skills you need to acquire or demonstrate to make it appear less niche. Look at all new job vacancies internally, speak to other departments if you think there are interesting openings there.Look at what similar careers exist in the private and charity sectors. Brush up your CV and make it AI ready. These are all things you should be doing on a £60k salary already as job permanence isn’t guaranteed in any sector any more.

On the other side look at your finances and make sure you’re on the best mortgage rate and deals for all your utilities. Focus on increasing your savings, job market is slow these days.

Most importantly continue to live your life. You don’t know if this change will happen or not and it’s important not to let future worries ruin today’s happiness.

Have you looked at the job market recently?

I’m in the NHS in admin and terrified of what will happen if reform get in. If they had their way they’d get rid of us all and the NHS will crumble.