NHS England is to be scrapped as part of a government drive to slash red tape and improve public services, Keir Starmer has announced.
He said the move would bring the health service “back into democratic control” and help bring down waiting times.
The prime minister made the announcement as he hit out at the “watchdog state” which he said was failing the country.
NHS England was created following a massive reorganisation of the health service by the Tory-led coalition government in 2012.
Speaking at an event in Hull, Starmer said: “I don’t see why decisions about £200bn pounds of taxpayer money on something as fundamental to our security as the NHS should be taken by an arm’s length body NHS England.
“And I can’t, in all honesty, explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy. That money could and should be spent on, nurses, doctors, operations, GP appointments.
“So today, I can announce we’re going to cut bureaucracy across the state, focus government on the priorities of working people, shift money to the front line.
“I’m bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms length body NHS England. That will put the NHS back at the heart of government, where it belongs – freeing it to focus on patients, less bureaucracy, with more money for nurses. An NHS re-focused on cutting waiting times at your hospital.”
Health secretary Wes Streeting said: “This is 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.
“When money is so tight, we can’t justify such a complex bureaucracy with two organisations doing the same jobs. We need more doers, and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline.”
Elsewhere in his speech, Starmer hit out at the “cottage industry of checkers and blockers” in the civil service who he said were prevented the government from delivering its promises to voters.
“We’ve created a watchdog state completely out of whack with the priorities of the British people and that is unfit for the volatile and insecure world we live in,” he said.
The PM added: “I don’t think for one second that’s what public servants want to do.
“If you walk around Whitehall, I know we’re recruiting some of the best talent in the country, people who have joined the Civil Service because they want to serve their country by delivering change.
“Yet somehow we take that energy, that pride, that patriotism, and we misdirect it into blocking. Well, that’s got to end.”
