NHS England has advertised more than 1,200 jobs since Sir Keir Starmer said it would be abolished.

New figures show the “world’s largest quango” has continued recruiting despite Labour’s pledges to cut bureaucracy.

It is more than a year since the Government said the organisation, which took day-to-day control of the English health service from the Department of Health in 2013, would be scrapped.

But the process has been drawn out, with the latest figures showing the monthly wage bill has risen to £104m since the announcement on March 13, 2025.

At the time, Wes Streeting said: “When money is so tight, we cannot justify such a complex bureaucracy with two organisations doing the same jobs.

“We need more doers and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline.”

New figures, uncovered by a parliamentary question, show that 1,214 vacancies at NHS England have been advertised since.

The jobs advertised included 577 non-medical vacancies, Karin Smyth, a health minister, said in a written parliamentary answer on April 27.

Over the same period, NHS England’s monthly wage bill increased by £3m, transparency data show.

Steve Barclay, the former health secretary who asked the question, said: “After Labour ministers announced the abolition of NHS England in an attempt to cut bureaucracy, the organisation has put out over 1,000 job adverts and seen its wage bill rise.

“Set alongside record long waits in A&E, growing waiting lists for community services, and rising waiting times for vital scans, Labour ministers are showing an increasing gap between the big promises they made and their performance in office.”

Announcing the abolition last year, Sir Keir said: “I don’t see why decisions about £200bn of taxpayer money on something as fundamental to our security as the NHS should be taken by an arm’s-length body, NHS England.

“And I can’t in all honesty explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy.”

The Government, which has called the organisation the “world’s largest quango”, said the plans would mean around half of the staff at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care would be made redundant.

Ministers have said the move will save hundreds of thousands of pounds, but some predict redundancy costs could reach £1bn.

The plans are supposed to mean that about 50 per cent of the 15,300 staff at NHS England and 3,300 staff at the department are made redundant.

But more than a year on, legislation to abolish NHS England has yet to be introduced.

Stuart Andrew, the shadow health secretary, said: “It seems like Wes Streeting is more focused on the Labour leadership than actually delivering in his job as Health Secretary…

“Whether on A&E performance, NHS strikes, or increasing efficiency, Streeting isn’t living up to his promises.”

A health source said many of the posts which had been advertised were temporary and not full-time. NHS England has launched a voluntary redundancy scheme, but most job cuts have yet to take place, with regional plans to cut around 1,475 roles emerging this week.

Last year, the Government also announced plans to scrap Ofwat, the water regulator, in a cull of bureaucracy, but The Telegraph has revealed that it has hired nearly 100 staff since then.

Official figures show that the total headcount at Ofwat has jumped from 431 in June to 525 as of March 2026.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The abolition of NHS England combined with reductions within DHSC will result in one of the biggest redundancy programmes in the public sector and all within the timeframe the Prime Minister committed to.

“Since the change was announced, almost 2,000 staff have left, with 3,700 approved for voluntary redundancy in 2026/27.

“Our changes to reduce back office costs will make the NHS more efficient, reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, and bring its management back into democratic control and divert billions more pounds to the frontline.”