NHS Confederation and NHS Providers joint statement on announcement NHS England will be abolished

In a joint statement in response to the news that NHS England is to be abolished, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, and Daniel Elkeles, incoming chief executive of NHS Providers, said:

“This is the end of an era for the NHS and marks the biggest reshaping of its national architecture in a decade.

“Our members will understand the dynamics at play here, but it comes at an extremely challenging time, with rising demand for care, constrained funding and the need to transform services. History tells us this will cause disruption while the transition is taking place. Much of trust and ICS leaders’ focus will need to go on stabilising the NHS in the short term as they prioritise patient care but we also need to ensure we get the right balance between recovery and reform given the opportunity provided by the upcoming ten-year plan.

“Our members will want to see strong voices maintained for the health service in future policy making and the major decisions that affect leaders and their staff. NHS England was set up to provide arms-length operational independence for the NHS from government and it will be important that the service maintains its ability to inform policy-making and all decisions that affect operational delivery.    

“The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers and our diverse memberships will work with the government to help this transition go smoothly and to ensure the ten-year plan helps the government to meet its ambitions. Local NHS organisations and other bodies will need to be involved in this transformation as the immediate next steps become clearer, so that an optimum operating model can be created.”