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NHS England Update 2025-03-13
13 March 2025
Lead MP
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
NHSTaxationNorthern Ireland
Other Contributors: 30
At a Glance
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care raised concerns about nhs england update 2025-03-13 in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
Since coming into office, the Government have made significant strides in fixing the broken NHS. The previous Conservative government led to years of industrial action, costing taxpayers billions and resulting in over a million cancelled operations and appointments. The new government has delivered two million extra appointments seven months early and is cutting waiting lists for five months in a row. A £2 billion budget increase for hospice funding was also announced.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 by Lord Lansley, which the Darzi investigation called 'disastrous' and 'a calamity without international precedent', is now being reversed. The Prime Minister has announced reforms to merge NHS England into the Department of Health and Social Care over the next two years, making significant savings of hundreds of millions of pounds annually.
These changes aim to address inefficiencies such as excessive bureaucracy and duplication between departments. The merger will enable better value for taxpayers' money by central procurement and faster implementation of cutting-edge technology. Sir James Mackey has been appointed Chief Executive of NHS England to lead this transformation.
Caroline Johnson
Con
Sleaford and North Hykeham
Question
What are the timeframes for the abolition of NHS England? By what date will it be completed? How many people will be moved into different roles or lose their jobs altogether? How much money is expected to save?
Wes Streeting
Lab
Question
What does the Secretary of State's control mean for clinical prioritisation and patient care? Will conditions with less visibility suffer due to political considerations?
Minister reply
The integration aims to improve efficiency, and we will have two medical directors focusing on primary and secondary care, underpinning our commitment to improvements in patient outcomes and safety.
Meg Hillier
Lab/Co-op
Hackney South and Shoreditch
Question
How will the NHS procurement be reformed to better utilise the purchasing power of the health service?
Minister reply
Procurement reform includes changing the culture of profligacy, routine deficits, and over-spending. The leadership has summoned chairs and chief executives from across the country to address the £5 billion to £6 billion deficit for 2025-26.
Mid Sussex
Question
Will new legislation be needed to scrap NHS England, and when will this process start?
Minister reply
The integration aims to bring together NHS England into the Department within two years with a target to cut staff numbers by 50%, delivering hundreds of millions of pounds of savings.
Layla Moran
LD
Oxford West and Abingdon
Question
The Health and Social Care Committee Chair requests a meeting to discuss the details of these changes. Additionally, she is concerned about the direction given to integrated care boards to cut running costs by 50%, which might lead to cuts in place-based teams essential for delivering the neighbourhood NHS.
Minister reply
I assure her that I will appear before the Select Committee soon and provide detailed information on these changes. The direction to frontline leaders is to deliver reforms without compromising future plans, ensuring financial control does not come at the expense of service quality.
Jen Craft
Lab
Thurrock
Question
Concerned about the existential crisis in NHS and the need for fundamental change, she asks what assurances can be given that the right people will be placed in leadership positions to drive necessary transformation.
Minister reply
An outstanding transformational team led by Sir Jim Mackey will be announced shortly. This team will bring together top leaders from across the country to ensure the NHS is sustainable for the long term without compromising its public service principles.
Jeremy Hunt
Con
Godalming and Ash
Question
Compliments the boldness of today’s announcement but raises concerns about political overcentralisation. He asks for more detail on changes, including potential removal of central targets that hinder local managers from delivering real change.
Minister reply
Democratic accountability is crucial. We should set national strategic priorities and ensure transparency, but overcentralisation must stop. The role of the Secretary of State is to be a champion for patients and taxpayers while enabling clinical leadership at the point of care.
Calder Valley
Question
Will he tell us today how the new structure of the NHS will help us deliver truly excellent social care and also primary care, and what drivers he can use to make that happen?
Minister reply
On primary care, we are beginning to turn deep anger among primary care leaders into optimism. We have delivered the biggest funding uplift in a generation with significant reform of the GP contract and will embark on further radical reform under the 10-year plan for health. Social care is also being addressed through Baroness Casey’s work.
John Glen
Con
Salisbury
Question
What about resolving the future of UK Health Security Agency once and for all?
Minister reply
We are recruiting an outstanding replacement for Dame Jenny Harries, looking at first principles, and aiming to soon report back on a decision regarding the specific location issue.
Danny Beales
Lab
Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Question
Will he assure me that the bonfire of bureaucracy will not stop effective local management, and how will change ensure proper integration of NHS digital functions?
Minister reply
We are giving frontline leaders tools to do their job better, including access to data platforms and technology for efficiency. We aim to remove regulatory barriers that constrain decision-making.
Richard Tice
Reform
Boston and Skegness
Question
Will the changes include unnecessary processes on the frontline in care homes?
Minister reply
We are determined to cut through red tape and regulatory barriers, including those constraining good care in care homes.
Rachael Maskell
Lab/Co-op
York Central
Question
How will we ensure that we do not replicate NHS England across ICBs and how will reforms be transformed through the 10-year plan?
Minister reply
We need to reform ICB ways of working and priorities, ensuring they are modernised. We also need to provide support for staff facing changes in their jobs.
Jim Dickson
Lab
Dartford
Question
I welcome the statement, particularly the commitment to ensure that as much money in the NHS as possible is spent on the frontline. How will the changes support a shift from hospital services to community settings?
Minister reply
The frustrating thing is that we are delivering the wrong care in the wrong place at the wrong time which delivers poorer outcomes for patients and taxpayers. The shift to community services is about better patient outcomes and value for taxpayers, as reflected in our 10-year plan.
Bath
Question
A&E staffing across the country is dangerously low especially at night. How quickly will emergency care see changes such as more permanent staff and training places?
Minister reply
We will shortly set out our emergency care improvement plan for year-on-year improvements, working to deliver better patient outcomes and safety by reducing waits above 12 hours.
Amanda Hack
Lab
North West Leicestershire
Question
Two GP practices are waiting for section 106 money to improve their facilities. How will the changes help release such delays and allow North West Leicestershire residents to get improved facilities?
Minister reply
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that example. Members can contact my office to expedite such decision-making, working with the Deputy Prime Minister's efforts to speed up NHS and local government decision-making.
James Wild
Con
North West Norfolk
Question
My constituents are concerned about a very bureaucratic approvals process for new hospitals. Can you guarantee that this will speed up, especially the business case for the multi-storey car park at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn?
Minister reply
The hon. Gentleman makes a fair challenge on bureaucracy which we are working to cut with Treasury Ministers and colleagues across Government.
Allison Gardner
Lab
Stoke-on-Trent South
Question
How does the Secretary of State plan to cut excessive layers of bureaucracy, get resources to the frontline, and deliver better care for the people of this country?
Minister reply
We have put in place a transformation team led by Sir Jim Mackey, working to shift more power and responsibility out of Whitehall and closer to the frontline while getting rid of unnecessary bureaucracy.
Adrian Ramsay
Green
Waveney Valley
Question
Can you reassure us that there will not be cuts to frontline services as we go into the new financial year, especially for Norfolk and Waveney ICBs?
Minister reply
The reports relate to unaffordable deficits sent ahead of 2025-26. Leaders are revising these plans and improving services with support from the Government.
Aylesbury
Question
Participants in a public consultation on the future of NHS were clear that we need to cut bureaucracy and get resources to the frontline, particularly for GP practices. How will he make this shift?
Minister reply
There are 889 million reasons for GPs to be cheerful. That amount was allocated before Christmas leading to fruitful negotiations with GP leaders delivering better access for patients.
Jerome Mayhew
Con
Broadland and Fakenham
Question
One top-down reform is being fixed by another which will last about two years. What steps will he take to prevent this distraction from having a negative effect on frontline services?
Minister reply
The Secretary of State rightly said that change is hard, but we aim to avoid such distractions and ensure the NHS leadership focuses on improving services.
Chris Vince
Lab/Co-op
Harlow
Question
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and pay tribute to NHS professionals in Harlow, particularly those at the Princess Alexandra hospital, for their incredible hard work every single day. Does he agree that NHS staff, who work incredibly hard, are failed by an overly bureaucratic and fragmented system, and that spiralling staff costs are partly a result of the need for additional agency staff?
Minister reply
We absolutely need to reduce the cost of agency staff in the NHS. That costs the taxpayer billions, and that money could be better spent on ensuring that we have the right staff in the right place, on better terms and conditions, and with permanent contracts. Where we do need flexibility, we should drive it through the NHS bank. We are determined to reform the way that works and deliver better staffing, better outcomes for patients and better value for taxpayers.
Bob Blackman
Con
Harrow East
Question
I welcome any measures to reduce the bureaucratic overload in the NHS, so I congratulate the Secretary of State on coming forward with his bold plan. We must also take a sledgehammer to the business case process, which frustrates the delivery of services and new buildings for the NHS. Will he consider bringing NHS-owned land into use for new care facilities and step-down hospitals, for example, so that we can free up hospital beds and get people into the care they need at a much lower cost?
Minister reply
The hon. Member is absolutely right: the estate is vast, it is underutilised, and we need to sweat our assets more effectively. We also need to reform bureaucratic processes. There are lots of reasons why we need to have tough controls on things such as spending, procurement and value for money, to ensure that there is appropriate and effective use of public money. But businesses do not operate in this way; they are able to counter fraud, waste and poor value for money, and they do it much faster. That is what the NHS needs to do. Across the public sector, we need to use our estate far more effectively to deliver better value and better services for the public.
Emma Foody
Lab/Co-op
Cramlington and Killingworth
Question
I thank the Health Secretary for the announcement he has made. As he rightly says, staff work incredibly hard and deserve our thanks, but we all recognise the huge strain that they and the organisation have been under. The health service is consistently raised as one of the top concerns by residents in my constituency. Can he share how today’s announcement, along with other measures he has previously announced, will build an NHS that is there when people across Cramlington and Killingworth need it?
Minister reply
We have to deliver improved services for patients in every part of the country. Her constituency and mine, which is on the London-Essex border, will have different needs, contexts and set-ups, and services may need to be shaped differently in order to meet those needs, but the standards should be consistent, the quality should be good and the safety should be guaranteed at all times. That is a far cry from the situation we inherited when it came to power; we are determined to work with our colleagues across the board to ensure that every single part of the NHS is getting the investment, support and attention it needs.
Sojan Joseph
Lab
Ashford
Question
I know from my experience of working on the NHS frontline how hard it has become over the years to get basic things done. Nurses and matrons spend hours and hours getting basic changes made to their workplace on the frontline. I therefore welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement. Will he ensure that by cutting bureaucracy, we can get more resources to where direct patient care takes place, which will help with the retention of nurses and healthcare assistants and see more patients being treated quicker and getting the care they need?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Some of the best innovation and improvements for patients I have seen has been led by frontline clinical teams that have had great executive leaders behind them, giving them the freedom and the tools to do the job. I hope that, as a result of these reforms, not only will we see the results for patients in the data, but staff and patients will feel the outcome and the difference in their experience of working in or being treated by the NHS.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Question
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and for his positivity on getting waiting lists down and making the change that is needed. He referred to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He will know that we in Northern Ireland are having the very same problems that he is sorting out today for England. I know that he is always keen to see the positivity that comes out of this place being shared right across this nation. Will he have discussions with the relevant Northern Ireland Minister, Mike Nesbitt, in relation to health back home, to ensure that we can follow the directives here, to make our health service in Northern Ireland every bit as good as this one will be?
Minister reply
I was recently in contact with Mike Nesbitt, offering some of that support and offering to work together to help improve the quality of health services in Northern Ireland, recognising that we have advantages of scale here in England. While recognising the devolution settlement, we want to work closely, just as we are working closely with our friends in the Labour Government in Wales to help them improve their services, and also learning from some of the things that the Welsh NHS does better than England.
Terry Jermy
Lab
South West Norfolk
Question
I commend this statement and thank the Secretary of State and his Department for the excellent work they are doing. It is not a moment too soon in Norfolk, because we have failing access to dentistry, it is difficult to get a GP appointment, and both the hospitals that serve my constituents have RAAC—reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete. With that in mind, may I invite the Health Secretary to Norfolk to meet healthcare professionals, to discuss the cumulative impact of so many challenges and to discuss how these reforms can help improve patient care?
Minister reply
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question; that was a very kind way of reminding me that I had already made such a commitment and have not followed through, so let me rectify that immediately.
Louise Jones
Lab
North East Derbyshire
Question
I thank the Secretary of State for the boldness of his statement. It will take courage to bring about the change that my constituents desperately want, and it is great that Labour is showing that courage. My constituents, particularly those in Killamarsh, really struggle with access to GPs. Could the Secretary of State assure me that this will redirect vital resources from bureaucracy to serving those in need on the frontline?
Minister reply
I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. That is the objective of what we are doing: to make better use of taxpayers’ money so that we can deliver better care for patients. That is not through bloated central bureaucracy, but through more frontline capability and services.
Kevin McKenna
Lab
Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Question
I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Of the more than 26 years that I worked in the NHS, six and a half were in NHS England, in its brilliant strategy team and with brilliant people. That is why my heart goes out to so many people who will have insecurity about their jobs following this announcement, even though I believe it to be the right one. This comes after years and years of chopping and changing at NHS Improvement and NHS England, as political leadership has switched from one person to another.
One of the things I am concerned about is the need to ensure that clinical leadership is still heard at the centre. As a nurse, I found it harder to get into NHS England. Doctors find it easier in their career structures. Moving NHS England functions into the Department, and moving off NHS terms and conditions, will make it harder for nurses, allied health professionals and other clinicians working in the NHS. What will my right hon. Friend do to ensure that the clinical voice comes right into the centre of Whitehall, along with the patient voice?
John Slinger
Lab
Rugby
Question
This welcome reform cannot come quickly enough in Warwickshire where councillors, local health campaigners, I and others have been making the case for a doctor-led urgent treatment centre at our local hospital, the Hospital of St Cross. The integrated care board has a review of urgent care under way in Warwickshire but many constituents are concerned about having to travel to larger hospitals with longer waiting times. Does my right hon. Friend agree that his reforms will equip ICBs more effectively to respond to these needs?
Minister reply
I am grateful for the perseverance of my hon. Friend and support the case for local decision making to ensure services meet the differing needs of communities while maintaining a national standard of care. The future vision is for an NHS that provides services closer to people's homes, shifting out of hospital settings as much as possible. These reforms will enable ICBs to better address urgent care needs locally.
Shadow Comment
Dr Caroline Johnson
Shadow Comment
The Conservative shadow minister supports the principle of streamlining management but criticises the lack of clarity on specific steps, timelines for completion, and job losses. The opposition questions the impact of leadership changes at NHS England and raises concerns about lessons learned from Labour's management in Wales.
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