In an example of the tension that can occur, Streeting’s desire to publish a new plan to tackle the long waits patients can face for urgent and emergency care, such as A&E treatment and getting an ambulance, has been delayed after NHS England raised doubts about whether such a plan was needed and what genuinely new initiatives could be included, one senior official said.
He plans to end the situation whereby separate teams of officials at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) cover the same area of health policy, such as primary care, which he regards as an unnecessary “duplication” of roles.
But Sarah Woolnough, the chief executive of the King’s Fund thinktank, issued a veiled warning to Streeting not to impinge too much on the freedom that NHS England was given as a result of then health secretary Andrew Lansley’s controversial shake-up of the service in 2012.
Streeting plans to gain and assert much more control over NHS England as part of his mission to usher in “a new era for the NHS” and revive the public service that voters care most about.
He has chosen Dr Penny Dash – a doctor who shares his zeal to radically reform the NHS – to replace Meddings, in a move NHS insiders and health policy experts say will strengthen Streeting’s grip.
