British PM Starmer scraps health body in search of savings and better care

Record ID: 1983680

  • Title: British PM Starmer scraps health body in search of savings and better care
  • Date: 13th March 2025
  • Summary: HULL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 13, 2025) (INTERNATIONAL POOL) VARIOUS OF BRITISH PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER ENTERING HALL / AUDIENCE APPLAUING STARMER LISTENING TO JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, KEIR STARMER, SAYING: "So today I can announce we're going to cut bureaucracy across the state focused government on the priorities
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: BRITAIN ENGLAND HEALTHCARE KEIR STARMER NHS UK
  • Location: HULL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: HULL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001851213032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday (March 13) he would scrap a body overseeing the state-funded health system in England in a bid to save hundreds of millions of pounds and cut waiting lists and bureaucracy.
    Starmer was elected in July on a promise to grow the economy and rebuild public services, including the increasingly costly National Health Service, which an independent report said in September was in a critical condition.
    The impact of the COVID pandemic, an aging population and a series of strikes have left patients waiting months and sometimes years for procedures, dragging on the economy.
    In Britain, there are 2.8 million people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness, according to the Office for National Statistics.
    Starmer said on Thursday that getting rid of NHS England would remove an unnecessary layer of red tape and mean more financial resources for frontline care in hospitals.
    The British government runs the health service in England through its health ministry - the Department of Health and Social Care. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland look after their own health systems.
    NHS England was established in 2012 by a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government as a separate "arms-length" body to helps decide spending priorities, oversee the service in England and negotiate contracts.
    (Production: Vitalii Yalahuzian)
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  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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