UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Thursday that NHS England will be abolished, bringing the National Health Service (NHS) back under direct government control.
“I’m bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control, by abolishing the arms-length body NHS England,” Starmer said.
In a speech, he explained: “We’re going to cut bureaucracy across the state. Focus government on the priorities of working people, shift money to the front line.”
He further said, “Amongst the reasons we’re abolishing it is because of the duplication. So if you can believe it, we’ve got a communications team in NHS England, we’ve got a communications team in the health department of government. We’ve got a strategy team in NHS England, a strategy team in the government department. We’re duplicating things that could be done once. If we strip that out, which is what we’re doing today, that then allows us to free up that money, to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line.”
Starmer arugued that politicians should oversee the NHS rather than an independent body. He concluded by saying this decision will return the NHS to the center of government “where it belongs” and added that “tough choices” will continue.
Under these plans, NHS England will now operate within the UK government’s department of health and social care.
What is NHS England?
NHS England is responsible for leading the National Health Service (NHS) in England.
It has various functions, including overseeing healthcare services, working with the government to set priorities and funding, and negotiating costs for medical products and services.
NHS England is an executive non-departmental public body, which means it is not a government department but operates using public funds under the sponsorship of the department of health and social care.