The Leicestershire and Rutland health board has to cut its running costs by 30 per cent as part of a nationwide shake-up of the NHS. 

The Labour government announced changes to NHS England earlier this year, which will involve a reorganisation of the current integrated care board model into clusters. 

At a meeting on 17th June, Rutland Health and Wellbeing Board deputy chief operating officer of the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Integrated Care Board (LLR ICB) Debra Mitchell, the deputy chief officer, explained what it would mean for the area and the role of the ICB, which currently commissions services and allocates budgets. 

She said: "Most of those roles will continue but there are some changes to the role that involve other partners. 

"The NHS 10-year plan, coming out later this year, will include more detail on the wider system and clarify the role of the trust system and the centre of the NHS. The new model focuses on strategic commissioning, which is part of the role now, but there will be a stronger emphasis on that to support the delivery of the 10-year plan. 

"The changes will mean that some work that the ICB does at the moment will move to providers, local authorities or other parts of the NHS. This is all subject to legislative changes." 

She said staff would be supported through the changes, which would be put in place by next March. 

As part of the shake up, the country's 42 ICB's will have to merge, with a possibly East Midlands cluster, although details are not as yet known. 

Ms Mitchell said there are weekly local and national meetings to discuss the details. She said patients should see little change, 

"Changes will not impact on patients' access to the NHS and will still be free at the point of access," she said. 

"In the long term the NHS may look different but patients going to their GP or into hospital will see very little difference and any changes." 

But the director of public health for Leicestershire and Rutland Mike Sandys disagreed. 

He said: "I always feel sorry for staff in this, because it is not the first time I have heard the phrase 'patients will see very little difference'. It does not really make sense because either there are a lot of people who are going to lose their jobs who have been doing nothing, which I don't really believe will be the answer. It either makes a difference or it doesn't." 

According to the annual report the LLR ICB employs 344 staff. Overall, it manages a budget of £2.2bn for Leicestershire and Rutland health services, which includes hospitals, the commissioning of primary care and mental health and community services. 

At the end of the most recent financial year at the end of March, the whole health system in Leicestershire and Rutland would have had a deficit of more than £140bn, but it was given assistance of £80m by the department of health. The ICB itself would have had a £16m deficit. The annual running costs of the ICB are not immediately clear in the report.