UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has outlined plans to scrap National Health Service (NHS) England as part of a strategy to reduce administrative costs and bring it back under direct government control.
With this move, the UK Government's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will assume responsibility for the NHS.
NHS England, which has been operating autonomously from the government since its inception in 2013, is responsible for a wide array of statutory functions.
These include agreeing on funding with the government, overseeing service delivery, and negotiating deals for medical services and products.
As an executive non-departmental public body, NHS England uses public funding to deliver services but is not a government department itself.
During a visit to East Yorkshire, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of situating the NHS 'at the heart of government where it belongs.'
He highlighted that the reintegration would prioritise patient care over bureaucracy, potentially increasing funds for healthcare workers and reducing hospital waiting times.
Starmer expressed his inability to justify the current two-tiered system to the British public, stating that the funds could be better allocated directly to medical staff and patient care services.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting supported the Prime Minister's announcement, linking the end of NHS England to the resolution of issues stemming from the 2012 NHS reorganisation.
These issues include prolonged waiting times, decreased patient satisfaction, and higher operational costs.
Streeting said: “NHS England will have a much clearer focus over this transformation period. It will be in charge of holding local providers to account for the outcomes that really matter, cutting waiting times and managing their finances responsibly.
“And it is tasked with realising the untapped potential of our NHS as a single-payer public service, getting a better deal for taxpayers through central procurement, being a better customer to medical technology innovators to get the latest cutting-edge tech into the hands of staff and patients much faster, and being a better partner to the life sciences sector to develop the medicines of the future.
“Over the next two years, NHS England will be brought into the department entirely.”
Last month, Amanda Pritchard announced her resignation as the chief executive of NHS England, following discussions with the Health Secretary about the NHS' future direction and her role within the organisation.
