Half of all NHS agencies to be abolished or merged

Up to 5,000 NHS jobs are set to be cut later today in a purge of NHS bureaucracy, with up to half of health service quangos, arms length agencies and special health authorities facing the axe or merger.

Health secretary, John Reid, is expected in a written statement to tell parliament today that 21 of the current 42 NHS agencies will be abolished or merged.

Reid is expected to announce that such rationalisation could free up to £500m to be invested in frontline care.

It is not yet clear which bodies will be cut, or whether the main NHS bodies involved in IT services and modernisation will be included. Within NHS IT the main scope for merging agencies is likely to be between the NHS Information Authority, a special health authority, and the National programme for IT.

E-Health insider will provide further reports following Reid’s statement to the house of commons.