Temporary health authority to oversee NHS regional teams after England merger

The Government will create a temporary health authority to oversee NHS England’s seven regional teams when the organisation is brought into the Department of Health and Social Care.

Subject to the Health Bill becoming law, NHS England will cease operating as a separate national organisation on 1 April 2027. Most of its national delivery responsibilities will move into a new NHS Group within the department, while the role of NHS chief executive will be retained.

The regional teams will not initially transfer into the civil service. Instead, they will sit within a transitional special health authority accountable to the Health and Social Care Secretary through the new NHS Group. The Government said the arrangement would allow regional staff to remain close to local NHS organisations while a more devolved operating model is developed.

Reports suggest the decision also avoids immediate difficulties created by differences between NHS England salaries and equivalent civil service pay. Around 3,000 regional employees are expected to remain on their existing employment arrangements under the temporary body.

The authority will not take over NHS England’s national functions and is not being presented by the Government as a permanent replacement. However, its creation is likely to attract scrutiny after ministers previously described abolishing NHS England as a way to remove duplication, reduce bureaucracy and simplify accountability.

The reorganisation will also include a new clinical council advising ministers, a Patient Experience Director and the retention of Healthwatch, which had previously faced abolition under the proposed reforms. The Health Bill remains before Parliament.

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