NHS England – the administrative body which runs the national health service – is be abolished in a bid to slash red tape, Sir Keir Starmer has announced.
The prime minister said he was scrapping the “arms-length body” to bring management of the NHS “back into democratic control”.
This move – which is to the administrative body rather than the service itself – will put the NHS “back at the heart of government where it belongs,” he said.
It would also “free” the service to “focus on patients, less bureaucracy, with more money for nurses”, the prime minister argued, adding that it would also help cut waiting times, which he said had been falling for five months in a row.
It comes after a number of senior NHS England executives announced they will be stepping down, including its boss Amanda Pritchard, its chief financial officer Julian Kelly, chief operating officer Emily Lawson and chief delivery officer Steve Russell.
Outlining his decision to ditch NHS England, Sir Keir said the move would reduce “duplication” and save money for frontline service.
“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 are duplicating things that could be done once.
“If we strip that out, which is what we are doing today, that then allows us to free up that money to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line.”
He said another reason for the decision was to push power to frontline workers “and away from the bureaucracy which often holds them up”.
NHS England is the body which leads the National Health Service in England. It is responsible for delivering high-quality care, supporting staff, and ensuring value for money.
The decision to abolish NHS England, which was not in Labour’s manifesto forms part of the government’s plan to make savings across the service and across all government departments.
In a speech in East Yorkshire, Sir Keir said AI teams would be brought into every government department to maximise efficiency and cut red tape – regarded as a break on his ambition to grow the economy.
