Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) clinical leadership and (b) specialist networks currently hosted by NHS England are maintained during and after its abolition.

Clinical leaders and networks of specialists across the country play a vital role in providing advice, catalysing change, and improving care. Following the announcement that NHS England will be abolished as an arm’s length body and replaced by a new Department of Health and Social Care, work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities.

The new Department will operate in a leaner, more agile, and more efficient way and will empower staff at all levels of the health system, including local clinical systems, to deliver better care for patients, drive productivity up, and get waiting times down. This change will set local National Health Service providers free to innovate, develop new productive ways of working, and focus on what matters most.

A new Joint Executive Structure came into effect on 3 November, providing unified leadership across the Department and NHS England to deliver the 10-Year Health Plan and oversee the transition to a single, integrated Department. The executive structure includes the Chief Medical Officer, national medical directors, and the Chief Nursing Officer, and they will play a key role in ensuring that the right infrastructure is in place to provide clinical leadership and advice.