Hundreds of NHS quangos to be scrapped as part of 10-year plan

A number for NHS quangos will be scrapped to cut ‘wasteful spending’ as part of the upcoming 10-year plan, the Government has announced.

It will abolish 201 NHS organisations, bodies and entities, including Healthwatch England, Health Services Safety Investigations Body and the National Guardian’s Office.

The Government will also close Commissioning Support Units, set up as part of the 2012 Lansley reforms, as well as Integrated Care Partnerships.

As announced earlier this year, NHS England will also be abolished and brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care over the next two years in order to ‘put an end to the duplication resulting from two organisations doing the same job’.

The 10-year plan, which is expected in the next few days, will outline how there are more than 150 bodies currently assessing quality in health and care settings and providing guidelines, and that number ‘has been allowed to increase’ over the past ten years.

But the Government said that these are not joined up and are having the opposite effect of what was intended, issuing guidance in an uncoordinated way.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘Over the past decade and a half, an overly complex system of healthcare regulation and oversight has been left to spiral out of control.

‘Creating new quangos can make for a good announcement, but rarely solves the problem. Our 10 Year Health Plan will tear through this tangled web of bureaucracy, cut wasteful spending and reinvest the savings in frontline care.

‘So many of the problems in the NHS come down to a failure to listen to patients. The changes we are making will hold a megaphone up to patients’ lips, and force the service to listen to their feedback.

‘The NHS needs more doers and fewer checkers. Our reforms will cut unnecessary bureaucracy, and liberate staff to deliver safe, timely care for patients.’

Responding to the announcement, NHS Confed chief executive Matthew Taylor warned the Government not to forget ‘the failings in care’ that led to these bodies being set up in the first place

He said: ‘The Government has already announced plans to reduce costs from within the NHS, so it is understandable that some consolidation may be needed around the way national health policy is developed too.

‘Any opportunity to reduce duplication should be welcomed particularly where any money saved can be invested back into frontline care.

‘However, NHS leaders would encourage the government to not forget the failings in care that led to these bodies being set up in the first place and tread carefully so as to ensure their vital missions continue in future. Staff and patients will still need safe spaces where they can speak up.’

Some details of the plan have already been revealed, including a review of the Carr-Hill formula for GP funding.

And the RCGP called for a ‘primary care investment standard’ to be included in the plan, ensuring that the Government and ICBs increase their spending on general practice each year.