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NHS England abolished - what does this mean for pharma?

on Tuesday, 01 April 2025.

This is not about abolishing the NHS, but a plan to redirect money from bureaucracy to frontline treatments of patients.

When Sir Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, announced that NHS England was going to be abolished, this took many people by surprise. However, it should not be such a shock.

The Prime Minister said it was aimed at bringing the NHS back "under democratic control". NHS England had been set up in 2012 under the Lansley reforms, and was designed to reduce political interference in the NHS.

Following the Prime Minister's announcement, Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said that this was just the beginning and not the end, as patients and staff both see lots of inefficiency and waste in the NHS.

He added that Penny Dash, the new Chair of NHS England, had identified "hundreds of bodies cluttering the patient safety and regulatory landscape, leaving patients and staff alike lost in a labyrinth of paperwork and frustration".

Mr Streeting expects the scrapping of NHS England to take two years and will lead to hundreds of millions being spent on frontline services rather than bureaucracy.

As the cost in treating patients rises with massive increases in demand for new medicines and treatments, plus a drive towards spending money on stopping people getting ill in the first place, this will be good news for pharma and life sciences businesses if it means that more money can be spent on their products and services that help to save and improve lives, rather than the processes and bureaucracy in the system. We will have to see if that is what transpires in practice.


If you are in pharma and supply to the NHS, please send us your thoughts and contact Paul Gershlick in our Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences team on 07795 570072, or complete the form below.

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