How does the NHS in England work?

NHS England (otherwise known as the NHS commissioning board) was created in 2013 and now leads the NHS in england. It’s an independent body that works alongside the department of health and social care. It was merged with NHS Improvement in 2018.

The main role of NHS England is to set the priorities and direction of the NHS. It has a long list of responsibilities but essentially It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the National Health Service in England. 

The NHS England Board is the senior decision-making structure for NHS England. NHS England sets outstrategy to improve healthcare in England by identifying current and future problems and setting goals for how to tackle these. 

One way they have done this is through their NHS Long Term Plan. Another is through the Five Year Forward View which was published in 2014. However, NHS England also has to achieve objectives which are set out by the Secretary of state. This is known as the NHS mandate.

The Planned spending for the department of health and social care in England is £190.3 billion in 2021/22. NHS England manages about Œ£100 billion of the overall budget, ensuring that organisations are spending funds effectively. NHS England directly commissions NHS general practitioners, dentists, optometrists and some specialist services. It also allocates a portion of their budget to Integrated care systems (previously CCG’s) who then use this to provide services in their area. We will cover more about funding in another article.

NHS England has seven regional teams:

• East of England

• London

• Midlands

• North East and Yorkshire

• North West

• South East

• South West

The regional teams oversee operations in their region and support the identity and development of integrated care systems.