NHSE staff could be kept out of DHSC

Ministers and officials are considering whether to keep some NHSE functions and staff separate from the Department of Health and Social Care when the organisation is abolished next year, HSJ has learned.

Senior sources said no final decision had been made, and that ministers and officials were still considering options.

They are grappling with concerns raised in recent months about the consequences of abolishing NHSE, due to take place under the Health Bill next April.

Issues raised, particularly by senior NHSE leaders, in recent months include:

• the problem of attracting senior NHS leaders to work at the centre and in the regions within the DHSC, because civil service pay is a lot lower;

• other problems with converging NHS and civil service pay;

• the need to maintain distance and independence from ministers and government for some of the functions and decision-making;

• a lack of time to properly restructure and transfer thousands of staff carrying out complex functions by April.

Some also believe that the new PM and health secretary, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper, are less keen than their predecessors to centralise more functions in the DHSC, but do not want to U-turn on the formal abolition of NHSE.

Several well-placed sources said different options were still being considered.

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Source: HSJ, 3 September 2026