Keir Starmer pronounces he’s abolishing NHS England in main shake-up

Keir Starmer has announced he is abolishing NHS England to put the health service “back at the heart of government”.

In a major speech, the PM said the move would bring the NHS “back into democratic control” in a huge reorganisation. The PM said there was too much duplication between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHSE. The agency will now be brought back into the DHSC.

Mr Starmer said the move will “cut bureaucracy” and allow ministers to focus on slashing record waiting lists and delivering for patients. He added: “I don’t see why decisions about £200billion of taxpayer money, on something as fundamental as the NHS, should be taken by an arms length body” Today has got to be a line in the sand for all of us”.

The reforms will reverse the 2012 top-down reorganisation of the NHS which, ministers say, “created burdensome layers of bureaucracy without any clear lines of accountability”. Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into the state of the NHS found the 2012 structural reforms – led by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government – were a “calamity”.

It comes after NHS boss Amanda Pritchard announced she was quitting at the end of last month. before a radical “new era” for the health service. Sir Jim Mackey, who is the national director of elective recovery for the health service, took over as interim NHS chief executive with a remit to “radically reshape how NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care work together”.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, who is due to address the Commons later today, said: “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.

“When money is so tight, we can’t justify such a complex bureaucracy with two organisations doing the same jobs. We need more doers, and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline.

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