Key points
- NHS England is financed by the government but runs itself
- Its staff is three times more than the Department of Health
- NHS England employs around 14,400 staff members
ISLAMABAD: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Thursday that his Labour government would take closer control of England’s revered but flagging National Health Service as he vowed to streamline the British state.
According to AFP, Starmer said he would abolish the NHS England body to “cut bureaucracy” and bring management of the almost 80-year-old health service “back into democratic control”.
Reinvestment in frontline services
The government said the move would lead to several thousand job cuts, saving “hundreds of millions of pounds a year” that would be “reinvested in frontline services”.
“That money could and should be spent on nurses, doctors, operations, GP appointments,” Starmer said during a visit in northeast England.
The previous Conservative-led administration established NHS England in 2013 as a so-called arms-length body to deliver health services.
But Starmer argued that decisions involving billions of pounds of taxpayer money should be made by the central government.
NHS England is financed by the government but runs itself, according to AFP.
Jobs on the line
According to BBC, the government said it expected around 50 per cent of the jobs at NHS England, which as of December had 14,400 staff, and the Department of Health, which has 3,500 staff, to go.
According to AFP, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government was looking at halving the combined workforce of the two entities, meaning around 9,500 people could lose their jobs.
The NHS is revered by most Britons but has been on its knees for years due to underinvestment and poor morale, which has led to significant strike action.
Starmer, elected last July, has vowed to cut waiting times for operations and create more doctors’ appointments.
His NHS announcement forms part of a wider plan to make the British state “more agile”.
Starmer says reducing the size of Britain’s half-a-million-strong civil service and increasing the use of artificial intelligence can save the government £45 billion ($58.3 billion) a year.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, he called Britain’s public service “overcautious” and “flabby”, according to AFP.
What is NHS England and how does it work?
According to Sky News, NHS England was established in 2013 by former Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley to give the NHS greater independence and autonomy – with an intention for it to operate at arm’s length from the government.
It was set up as a quango – an organisation that is funded by taxpayers, but not controlled directly by central government – and is responsible for delivering high-quality care, supporting staff, and ensuring value for money.
