“I am bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms’ length body NHS England,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer today (March 13) announced.
“That will put the NHS back at the heart of government where it belongs, freeing it to focus on patients, less bureaucracy, with more money for nurses, an NHS refocused on cutting waiting times at your hospital,” he said.
Starmer added that the reform is set to “shift money to the frontline”.
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According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DH), work will begin “immediately to return many of NHSE’s current functions to the department”.
It added that the changes will also “give more power and autonomy to local leaders and systems…to deliver health services for the local communities they serve with more freedom to tailor provision to meet local needs”.
“I don’t see why decisions about £200 billion of taxpayer money, on something as fundamental to our security as the NHS, should be taken by an arms’ length body,” Starmer said.
“And 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,” he added.
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It comes after NHSE last month greenlit plans for the “vast majority” of vaccination and screening services to be commissioned locally from April next year.
And NHSE chief executive Amanda Pritchard last month revealed that she would step down from her role at the end of March with Sir James Mackey taking over as transition chief executive at the start of April.
“World’s largest quango scrapped”
The DH labelled today’s announcement as the “world’s largest quango scrapped under reforms to put patients first”.
“NHSE will be brought back into the DH to put an end to the duplication resulting from two organisations doing the same job in a system currently holding staff back from delivering for patients,” it said.
“By stripping back layers of red tape and bureaucracy, more resources will be put back into the front line rather than being spent on unnecessary admin,” it added.
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“The reforms will reverse the 2012 top-down reorganisation of the NHS that created burdensome layers of bureaucracy without any clear lines of accountability,” the DH said.
While work will begin “immediately” to facilitate this reform, “a longer-term programme of work” will bring NHSE back into the department, it continued.
“Final nail in the coffin”
NHSE’s new leadership team, Sir Jim Mackey and Dr Penny Dash, will “lead this transformation while reasserting financial discipline”, it said.
And it added that the reforms “will provide the structure necessary to drive forward” the government’s “three big shifts” – analogue to digital, sickness to prevention, and hospital to community.
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Health secretary Wes Streeting said that “this is the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous 2012 reorganisation, which led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction and most expensive NHS in history”.
“We need more doers, and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline,” he said, adding that “NHS staff are working flat out but the current system sets them up to fail”.
“These changes will support the huge number of capable, innovative and committed people across the NHS to deliver for patients and taxpayers,” he added.
“Bang for our buck”
Mackey acknowledged that the news “unsettling for [NHSE] staff”, but said that it “will bring welcome clarity as we focus on tackling the significant challenges ahead”.
“NHSE has played a vital role in improving the nation’s health [and] I have always been exceptionally proud to work for the NHS – and our staff in NHSE have much to be proud of,” he said.
But he added that “we now need to bring NHSE and the DH together so we can deliver the biggest bang for our buck for patients as we look to…build an NHS fit for the future”.
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It comes after NHSE announced massive cuts earlier this week (March 10), saying its size could “decrease by around half”.
“As part of the need to make best possible use of taxpayers’ money to support frontline services, the size of NHSE will be radically reduced,” the body said.
People moves
And on the same day, three leading NHSE board members - NHS chief financial officer Julian Kelly, chief operating officer Emily Lawson, and chief delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening Steve Russell - all “informed colleagues that they will leave their roles in the coming weeks”.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard told staff that “as part of the upcoming changes to the size and function of the centre, they have decided that now is the right time to step down”.
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Meanwhile, Pritchard herself last month informed NHSE that she would step down from her role at the end of March.
And NHSE national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis also announced last week (March 6) that he will leave his role in early July after more than seven years in post.
