Committee to hold session on NHS England merger
This session on the plans for NHS England comes as the Government this week introduced the Health Bill to Parliament, which will give effect to its plans to abolish NHSE and give its role to the Department and Integrated Care Boards.
Meeting details
MPs will look at how this process will happen in practice, including the redundancies of officials in NHS England and in ICBs, which are also being restructured across the country. ICBs are facing budget cuts of 50%, and the total number of these regional bodies will reduce from 42 to 26, with each covering a larger geographical area.
The plans have been criticised by the Institute for Government think tank, which said ICB reorganisation is “turning into a fiasco” and “more problematic than even pessimists expected”. The Health Foundation reported that some NHS managers have found the redundancy process a “disgrace”.
This session will also be used to examine the proposal in the Health Bill to merge the Health Service Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), an independent body that investigates failings in NHS services, into the Care Quality Commission. There are concerns that this move could undermine the HSSIB’s independence and whistleblowers’ trust that they can raise concerns in confidence.