NURSING jobs could be under threat as part of major NHS cost-saving exercises, health leaders have warned.

Thousands of jobs across NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care are on the line as a result of the government’s decision to scrap the former.

And integrated care boards (ICBs) have also been told to cut costs by 50 per cent, with experts saying this will lead to thousands more job cuts.

Royal College of Nursing general secretary Professor Nicola Ranger warned that “posts are being looked at” on the front line as efficiency savings are being made “across the board.”

She said: “I am genuinely worried about the environment that we’re currently working in, because it isn’t just NHS England and ICBs that are saving money, it is providers. And I know posts are being looked at to take frontline nursing out.

“So there’s a real danger that puts all of this together and that we end up with a real risk.”

Prof Ranger said that the NHS is in crisis and must not be “distracted” by government restructuring.

Earlier this month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that losing doctors and nurses should be a last resort for NHS leaders but admitted there could be “some service changes where a doctor or nurse might be employed in one place and that may change.”

NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor warned that the cuts come at a critical time, as the NHS struggles to improve patient care.

“The reality is that these cuts will require major changes and they will inevitably make the task of delivering long-term transformation of the NHS much harder,” he said.

Mr Streeting will be quizzed by MPs on the decision to scrap NHS England on April 8.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson defended the changes, saying: “We are investing an extra £26 billion in the NHS to get the health service back on its feet, so it can be there for us when we need it.

They said that scrapping NHS England is about “cutting bureaucracy” to redirect funding to the front line.