Health secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed in Parliament that the NHS will be brought back into political control by ministers with NHS England no longer existing as a separate entity from the Department of Health and Social Care.
Streeting told MPs there were currently 15,300 staff at NHS England, and 3,300 in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Across both, Streeting said his teams were looking to reduce the overall headcount “by 50%” leading to “hundreds of millions of pounds worth of savings”.
“Today we’re abolishing the biggest quango in the world,” Streeting said.
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The announcement marked the biggest step yet in ministers’ ambition to reform the NHS and turn back many of the reforms brought in under the Conservatives since 2010.
NHS England was set up in 2011 by then health secretary Andrew Lansley to run the health service. Lansley also oversaw the scrapping of primary care trusts in favour of GP-led clinical commissioning groups to organise local services.
Streeting claimed there were several Conservatives who had told him in private they regretted the 2012 reorganisation. “None of them acted,” he said.
In a wide-ranging speech in Hull today, prime minister Keir Starmer said NHS England would be abolished to “cut bureaucracy” and bring management of the health service “back into democratic control”.
He added that the move would free up cash for frontline services, and help speed up improvements in the NHS, with the government aiming to slash waiting lists by the next election.
Incoming chair of NHS England Dr Penny Dash said today she was “committed” to working with colleagues across NHS England to ensure the body begins 2025-26 “in the strongest possible position to support the wider NHS”.
She added that she would help lead the work “to bring together NHSE and DHSC to reduce duplication and streamline functions.”
In Parliament, former Tory chancellor and health secretary Jeremy Hunt commended the “boldness” of the government’s plan. But he warned that if it only served to replace bureaucratic over-centralisation with political over-centralisation, it would fail.
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