NHS England and Health Education England have legally merged, creating a new single organisation to lead the NHS in England.
The news follows the merger of NHS Digital and NHS England on 1 February. Now, the NHS’s people, skills, digital, data and technology expertise have been brought together into one national organisation to deliver high-quality services for everyone in England.
Health Education England was he body responsible for the education and training of the health workforce and has played a critical role in improving the quality of health and care services and growing the number of staff working in the NHS over the last decade.
The transfer will see NHS England take over responsibility for all activities previously undertaken by Health Education England, including planning, recruiting, educating and training the health workforce, and ensuring it has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours in place to support the delivery of excellent healthcare to patients and the public.
It is expected that, by the end of 2023/24, the new organisation will be between 30-40% smaller than the current combined size of NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Digital.
NHS England’s chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “Today marks a major milestone as we come together as one single organisation. This puts workforce, data, digital and technology at the heart of our plans to transform the NHS, enabling better, more joined-up decision-making at system, regional and national levels, and more effective and efficient use of our resources.
“Our colleagues from Health Education England bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise, which will be invaluable in our aim to help the NHS improve the health and care of the people it serves.”
Dr Navina Evans, chief workforce, training and education officer at NHS England, said: “I want to thank every single one of my former Health Education England colleagues and partners for their contribution.
“There remains so much to do, so now is the time to build on the achievements of Health Education England, NHS Digital and NHS England. Bringing together the three organisations allows us to align service, workforce, and financial planning and delivery. A united approach to improving service, embedding new technology and ensuring the workforce has the skills and numbers to deliver improvements is a huge opportunity for the NHS, one we intend to take together.”
