Streeting scraps NHS England in 'high-stakes' push to improve care

Wes Streeting has ordered a "high-stakes" reorganisation of the NHS that will scrap 10,000 jobs in an effort to free up cash for frontline care.

- Rowena Mason, Denis Campbell

Experts warned that the move to abolish NHS England and fold it into the Department of Health could distract ministers from the urgent job of ending long waits for treatment, while trade unions expressed concern about the "shambolic" announcement of job cuts for public servants.

However, the health secretary said the move to abolish the "world's largest quango" would put ministers back in charge of the NHS while saving hundreds of millions of pounds that could be better spent on doctors, nurses and improving frontline care.

"I tell people now who resist this reform out of love for the NHS, do not kill it with kindness," Streeting said.

The decision to scrap NHS England, announced by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, yesterday, is a dramatic reversal of the unpopular NHS changes brought in by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government more than a decade ago.

One Tory peer and former health minister, James Bethell, said he wished the Conservatives had "had the guts to do this", while Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary praised the "boldness" of the proposals.

Announcing the plans, Starmer said the move would "cut bureaucracy" and bring management of the health service "back into democratic control", while Streeting said it was 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".

Whitehall sources said Streeting had made the decision that NHS England should be scrapped earlier this year amid frustration with the duplication that exists with the Department of Health, and that Starmer had been fully on board with the idea.