The team to lead NHS England’s transition into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has been announced.
It comes after the Government’s decision to abolish NHS England earlier this month, with functions set to be brought back into DHSC.
The role of chief operating officer and chief delivery officer at NHS England will no longer exist, and there will now be two co-medical directors, a financial reset and accountability director and an elective care, cancer and diagnostics director (details in box).
Claire Fuller has been made co-medical director, with a responsibility for primary care, with a separate secondary care co-medical director also in place. NHS England said that Stephen Powis would remain in post as national medical director until early July.
New roles in NHS England transition team
|
Co-Medical Director – Secondary Care |
Responsibilities to be confirmed |
Meghana Pandit |
|
Co-Medical Director – Primary Care |
Responsibilities to be confirmed |
Claire Fuller |
|
Financial Reset Director and Accountability Director |
Working with CEO and Board, engaging with NHS England leaders, to work alongside the chief financial officer to ensure the financial reset delivers its objectives, and also moves smoothly into the new regime initiated by 10-Year Health Plan. Intensive support to challenged systems |
Glen Burley |
|
Elective Care, Cancer and Diagnostics Director |
Elective care |
Mark Cubbon |
It comes as the Government has appointed influential GP, Sir John Oldham, to advise on its efforts to shift care into the community.
Sir John was previously clinical lead for quality and productivity at the DHSC until 2013 and will work ‘closely’ with health secretary Wes Streeting to support the ambition to ‘move to a neighbourhood health service’. It will be a 12-month role that began on 2 December 2024.
Last week, primary care minister Stephen Kinnock, said the decision to fold NHS England into the DHSC was about ‘decentralisation’ and greater empowerment of those on the frontline of healthcare.
ICBs were also told this month that they would have to cut their workforce by 50%, which equates to around 12,500 staff across the health system.
At our sister title Pulse PCN’s London conference, Mr Kinnock was asked about how the ambition for neighbourhood healthcare would work in light of significant cuts to ICBs and NHS England.
Mr Kinnock said: ‘It is actually about decentralisation. It’s about removing a layer that sits between the democratically accountable secretary of state and the people on the front line, the ICBs, trusts, PCNs and general practice, and primary care dentists.’
On how the ICB cuts specifically impact this neighbourhood vision, DHSC later told Healthcare Leader: ‘Frontline NHS staff are being failed by the current system, which overloads them with bureaucracy, ties them up in red tape and sucks up resources through duplication.
‘We know staff want to be able to get on with delivering for patients – and that’s why we need to take the bold decisions necessary to reform our health service, so it best serves communities.
‘By reducing bureaucracy and empowering those who know their communities and patients best, this change is wholly consistent with the government’s wider approach to devolution.’
At a Digital Health Rewired conference on Tuesday 18 March, the chief technology officer for NHS England Sonia Patel said she was ‘filled with optimism’ about the changes to the system.
‘The change is designed to reassure the public that every penny is being spent wisely, enhancing staff productivity and wellbeing, and ultimately lead to better outcomes for our patients and the population, regardless of organisational shape,’ said Ms Patel.
‘Let’s continue to support each other as we navigate the transition, hearing the buzz in the room I am filled with optimism. We can turn this change into positive opportunities and build future digital health.’
It comes after NHS England said it was considering a ‘fundamental reset’ of the financial regime and accountability to ‘get a grip’ on the situation.
ICBs have been under pressure to cut their running costs by 30% by 2025/26, which was announced just before the start of the 2023/24 financial year.
In July last year, ICB leaders delivered a damning verdict into the state of their finances, with 15 out of 19 ICB chief financial officers saying their financial position had deteriorated in 2023/24.
The NAO NHS financial management and sustainability report 2024 estimated there was £1.4bn aggregated deficit in 2023/24 across the 42 integrated care systems (ICSs), with three ICBs in NHS England’s Recovery Support Programme alongside 21 trusts.
An exclusive Healthcare Leader investigation last year found that ICBs had saved £25m through redundancy since they were set up in July 2022.
