Sir Keir Starmer has announced NHS England will be abolished to “cut bureaucracy” and bring management of the health service “back into democratic control”. The Prime Minister said decisions about billions of pounds of taxpayer policy should not be taken by an “arms-length” body as he vowed to implement sweeping reforms which the Government says will deliver better care for patients.
Speaking on a visit to Hull, Sir Keir said: “I can’t in all honesty explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy. That money could and should be spent on nurses, doctors, operations, GP appointments.
“So today, I can announce we’re going to cut bureaucracy… focus Government on the priorities of working people, shift money to the frontline. So I’m bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms-length body, NHS England.”
NHS England is the publicly funded healthcare system responsible for overseeing the National Health Service (NHS) in England. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. NHS England allocates funding and ensures that health services (such as hospitals, GPs, mental health services, and community care) are commissioned effectively.
It establishes overall healthcare priorities, ensuring that the NHS meets the needs of the population.NHS England focuses on enhancing healthcare quality, patient safety, and outcomes.
It oversees services like GPs, dentists, pharmacists, and opticians and works with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) that manage health services at a regional level. It ensures national healthcare policies are implemented, often in collaboration with NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).
NHS England is primarily funded through general taxation and National Insurance contributions (NICs). The UK government allocates an annual budget to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which then distributes funds to NHS England. In turn, NHS England allocates money to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), which manage healthcare services at the regional level.
While all four countries in the UK have publicly funded healthcare systems, they are managed separately, leading to differences in policies, funding, and services. Each country has the flexibility to set its own health policies. For example, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland abolished prescription charges, while England still charges for them.
NHS England was officially established on April 1, 2013 as part of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It was created to take over many of the responsibilities previously held by the Department of Health, particularly in commissioning healthcare services and overseeing NHS funding and performance in England.
Before NHS England was formed, the NHS in England was mana ged directly by the Department of Health and a network of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) . These were abolished in 2013, and their functions were transferred to NHS England and newly created Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) —which were later replaced by Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in 2022.