Labour health minister was left struggling to answer a direct question on job losses following the abolition of during a tense exchange with radio host . Ferrari repeatedly pressed Smyth on whether frontline NHS staff would be made redundant as a result of the government’s plans, but she failed to give a clear answer – prompting the radio host to shut her down with a firm “No!”
The exchange, which unfolded live on air, saw Ferrari attempt multiple times to get a straight response from Smyth about job losses. Ferrari asked: “Will frontline staff lose their jobs as a result of this?” Smyth firmly responded: “No. This is about moving more care out of hospitals, into the frontline, into local communities, out of bureaucracies. We know that people don’t have the access to the NHS that they feel they need. That’s what we heard loud and clear in the election.”
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Nick Ferrari skewered the Labour health minister about the upcoming abolition of NHS England (Image: LBC)
The radio host doubled down, querying: “No nurse, no anaesthetist, no one, no frontline staff will lose their job as a result of this?”
Smyth began to formulate a reply, saying “Clinical staff are in high demand, and we need…” At this point she was cut off by a frustrated Ferrari, who called out her answer for its ambiguity, insisting: “No, can you just confirm none of them will lose their jobs?”
The health minister retorted: “I wouldn’t expect anybody in a frontline role to be changing—well, they will be changing jobs because we need people to be fit for the future. Obviously, there are a lot of other changes that need to happen, so things will change. We want people working differently.”
But Ferrari was not satisfied, and continued to press her on the issue, asking again: “But you can confirm, no frontline staff will lose their job?”
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The radio host was not satisfied with Karin Smyth’s answers (Image: LBC)
For the final time, Smyth confirmed: “No. I don’t expect that frontline staff—we need more of them, we know that people have got vacancies, that in fact many staff are on the waiting list. We need to get them back to work, that’s part of what we’re trying to do.”
The tense exchange comes in the wake of Sir confirming Labour’s plan to abolish NHS England. The organisation was set up in 2013 to provide autonomy to the healthcare system.
It currently employs around 15,300 people, and its responsibilities will now be absorbed into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The move, which will take two years to fully implement, is expected to generate £100 million in savings and aims to free up funds for frontline services.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already confirmed that more than 9,000 civil servants will lose their jobs as a result. “[It] will be an anxious time for them… there’s no way of sugarcoating it,” Streeting admitted in an interview, adding that affected workers would be treated with “care and respect” during the process.