Labour's plans to abolish NHS England descend into farce as ministers set up new quango... to scrap old quango

Published: 14:03 EDT, 4 November 2026 | Updated: 14:35 EDT, 4 November 2026 Labour's plans to abolish NHS England descended into farce after Yvette Cooper announced she would set up a new quango to scrap the old quango.The Health Secretary said thousands of NHS England (NHSE) staff will be moved into a new ‘Special Health Authority’ by the Government’s deadline to abolish the health quango.Ex-health secretary Wes Streeting announced in March 2025 that the Government would scrap the 'world's biggest quango' and return its functions to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).But the plans to make NHSE staff civil servants in the DHSC ran into problems as NHS bureaucrats can earn up to £45,000 more than those doing an equivalent role in Whitehall.Under strict government finance rules, Ms Cooper would have needed permission from the Treasury for each staff member's salary that exceeds the normal civil service pay level.But on Wednesday the Health Secretary announced the creation of the Special Health Authority, with NHSE staff moved over to this new quango in their thousands to get around this.Ms Cooper said that plans were still underway to abolish NHSE and bring its functions back into the DHSC by April – less than five months away – after the October 2026 date that was originally suggested was missed.Under the plans, about 9,000 staff – 50 per cent of NHSE’s headcount – were due to lose their jobs. But it is not yet clear if cuts on this scale will still go ahead or if staff will simply be moved. Health Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that Labour would set up the new Special Health Authority quango to scrap the old NHS England quangoMs Cooper insisted that the Special Health Authority will be a ‘temporary arrangement that will support the transition to a more devolved model’.But shadow health secretary Damian Hinds accused Labour of pushing ahead with the abolition of NHSE ‘without a thought-through plan’ meaning ‘deadlines have been missed and costs are up’.He said: ‘Now Labour are resorting to setting up a quango to close another quango. Do they really believe all this will be complete in five months’ time?‘What the NHS needs is focus on patients - to get the waiting lists down and A&E performance up. The disruption of a constantly shifting re-re-organisation inevitably takes attention away from this core need.’Labour came to power in 2024 promising to slash red tape. But the Government was ridiculed after it emerged it had established a new quango every week in its first six months in office.And it appears Labour’s zeal for creating arms-length bureaucracy has not diminished under Andy Burnham. It set up another quango – the OneGov Delivery Agency – in September to reform the civil service.In a written statement to Parliament, the Health Secretary said the Government would maintain the NHS chief executive role and establish an ‘NHS Group’ within DHSC that would take on the ‘vast majority of NHSE's current national delivery functions’.Ms Cooper said: ‘NHS regional teams will support this transition given their knowledge of local circumstances, communities and patients needed to support performance improvement. These teams will not transfer into DHSC on 1 April 2027.‘To support the continuing work of the seven existing regional teams, we will establish a transitional Special Health Authority… We have agreed that this should be a temporary arrangement that will support the transition towards a more devolved model.’As part of this process, the Government will also launch yet another consultation to get the views of NHSE staff and trade unions by January, according to the Health Service Journal.And despite Labour promising that scrapping NHSE would cut bureaucracy and duplication, Ms Cooper said she would create a new role of ‘Patient Experience Director’ and set up a ‘Clinical Council’ of senior clinicians to advise ministers.She added: ‘These reforms must help us get back to what the NHS does best: caring for people when they need it most. That is the purpose behind every target and every plan - not changing structures for their own sake, but so that patients get timely care and families get the support they need.’