NHS England is being abolished

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the abolition of NHS England, a move he claims will ‘cut bureaucracy’, save money, and bring management of the health system back under ‘democratic control’.

But what does this really mean ?

NHS vs. NHS England: What’s the difference?

First, a clarification: The National Health Service (NHS) and NHS England are not the same. The NHS, founded in 1948, is the publicly funded healthcare system that provides free care.

NHS England, however, was created much later, in 2013, under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, introduced by David Cameron’s Conservative government. It was designed as a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation (quango) that operated independently from the government, even though it still relied on public money.

It employs around 15,000 staff, mostly managers and officials. The Department of Health and Social Care sets the priorities and allocates funding, while NHS England develops strategic plans and distributes the money across the healthcare system.

Why was NHS England Created?

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