The health secretary, John Reid, today named the health service quangos which will be scrapped in a government drive to cut bureaucracy that will mean the loss of more than 6,000 jobs.
Mr Reid today announced details of a plan first outlined in May to reduce the number of "arm's length" NHS agencies and free up resources for new doctors and nurses.
In all, 20 of the NHS's 38 quangos are to go either by being merged or axed outright, resulting in the loss of 25% of their 25,000 staff. However, the cuts are expected to save £500m, which the government said it would invest in frontline services.
The proposals come a week after the chancellor's spending review set out plans for sweeping cuts to civil service jobs in a bid to head off accusations that the government is wasting money on bureaucracy.
In a written statement to the Commons today, Mr Reid said the savings generated by the cuts would be the equivalent of four new hospitals or 20,000 more nurses by 2008.
He said: "Arm's length bodies need to be streamlined in number and functions. They must adopt a different approach so that their functions are delivered effectively. Last week the chancellor announced the government's plans for releasing resources to the frontline. Our review shares a common objective in that it seeks to minimise bureaucracy."
A report published today by the Department of Health sets out the government's vision for a slimmed down NHS. Its main proposals are:
· The Mental Health Act Commission to be abolished its role in regulating the care of people detained under the Mental Health Act taken on by the Healthcare Commission.
· The Health Development Agency to be abolished and its work to link standards on the prevention and treatment of ill health taken on by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
· The Health Protection Agency to assume functions of the Public Health Laboratory Service and the role of the Radiological Protection Board, both of which will be scrapped.
· The NHS Pensions Agency, the Dental Practice Board, the Prescriptions Pricing Authority and NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Authority all to be scrapped and replaced by a new NHS Business Services Authority.
· A new Blood and Transplant Authority to be created to replace the functions of UK Transplant and the National Blood Authority, both of which will be scrapped.
Dr Gill Morgan, chief executive of managers' organisation the NHS Confederation, welcomed the rationalisation because of the resources it could free up.
However she urged caution on implementation of the proposals. "This could bring real benefits, but only if it's done in the right way," she said.
"The government will have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. These organisations [that are being abolished] have all offered important services that can't be allowed to slip through the net."
