The Prime Minister said decisions on taxpayer policy of billions of pounds should not be taken by the “arms length” agency.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that NHS England will be abolished to “reduce the bureaucracy” and that management of health services will “return to democratic control.”
The Prime Minister said decisions about billions of pounds of taxpayer money should not be taken by the “arms chief” agency as the government has pledged cleaning reforms that would provide better care for patients.
The priority was that the previous Tory government was wrong to make NHS England more independent from the central government, as it warned that the state was “weaker than ever.”
“It’s overstretched, out of focus, it’s too much and it’s trying to do it badly,” the prime minister said.
He said the move will help free up cash for doctors, nurses and frontline services, cut red tapes, and speed up improvements in health services amid complaints about the pace of change.
The change reverses the NHS’ 2012 reforms under a conservative Democratic coalition. The government says it has created a layer of “burdened” bureaucracy without a clear boundary of accountability.
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Speaking about his visit to Hull, his priorities stated:
“Today we can announce that we will cut bureaucracy…focusing government on workers priorities and shifting money to the forefront.
“So I’m bringing NHS management back to democratic rule by abolishing NHS England, the body of the arms chief.”
Answering questions from cancer patients about how this decision will improve NHS services, the priorities stated:
“So, if you can believe it, we have a communications team in NHS England, we have a communications team in the government’s health department. We have a strategy team in NHS England, the strategic team in the government’s department. We are replicating what we can do once.
“If we take that out, which is what we’re doing today, we can let that money go and put it where we need it. This is the forefront.”
He added that the government wants to push power on frontline workers.
In his broad speech, the Prime Minister said that “strength abroad” demands “returning home and safe security” and that the government must go “even faster” to achieve reforms.
“With the uncertainty of our country and what’s going on worldwide, it’s time to go even faster in my beliefs, for the sake of urgency and what we need to do with security and updates,” he said.
“So every pound we spend, every regulation, every decision we have to be provided to the workers, and I don’t just mean efficiency.
“I mean something that allows the nation, the government to run what I call the biggest electricity.
“So, as if reforming it, it will approach the community, demolish the Westminster wall and invite the UK people to be partners in the business of change.”
The government said it would begin “quickly” to bring many of the functions of the NHS England back to the Ministry of Health and Social Care.
New leadership teams, Sir Jim McKee and Dr Penny Dash, said they would “continue to provide the government’s priorities of reaffirming financial discipline and reducing waiting times.”
