Keir Starmer announced on Thursday that he will be abolishing NHS England over the next two years.
That does not mean the NHS itself is being scrapped – the health service in England will remain in place as it is.
NHS England is an executive, non-departmental public body which operates independently of government to oversee the day-to-day operation and commissioning of the NHS.
Advertisement
The PM’s announcement means any responsibilities NHS England have will be brought back under ministerial control.
Plenty of people on social media did point out that the government’s messaging around the news was not exactly clear, however.
Urgent message to Keir – please clarify that you are not abolishing the NHS.
My estimate of the % of the public who know that NHS England is an arms length management body – <1%.
Another comms own goal from the govt, I see.
— Amy Gandon (@GandonAmy) March 13, 2025
","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Amy Gandon","author_url":"https://twitter.com/GandonAmy","cache_age":86400,"description":"Urgent message to Keir – please clarify that you are not abolishing the NHS. My estimate of the % of the public who know that NHS England is an arms length management body – <1%.Another comms own goal from the govt, I see.— Amy Gandon (@GandonAmy) March 13, 2025\n\n\n","options":{"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Amy Gandon on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/GandonAmy/status/1900142931429716099","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"67d2e6f5e4b0270f494a1f80","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/no-keir-starmer-is-not-abolishing-the-nhs_uk_67d2e6f5e4b0270f494a1f80","entryTagsList":"nhs,nhs-england","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":7},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"67d2e6f5e4b0270f494a1f80","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"NHS","slug":"nhs","links":{"relativeLink":"news/nhs","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nhs","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nhs"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nhs/"},{"name":"NHS England","slug":"nhs-england","links":{"relativeLink":"news/nhs-england","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nhs-england","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nhs-england"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nhs-england/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline\", \"entry_paragraph_2\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>
Urgent message to Keir – please clarify that you are not abolishing the NHS.
My estimate of the % of the public who know that NHS England is an arms length management body – 1%.
Another comms own goal from the govt, I see.
— Amy Gandon (@GandonAmy) March 13, 2025
Sky 501 
#ProtectNurse (@alisonleary1) 
