Lansley's reforms and the NHS Long Term Plan

The Health and Social Care Act was passed in 2012 and caused the biggest upheaval of the NHS in its history. It did this at great speed, while at the same time trying to make unparalleled financial savings. The Act abolished NHS primary care trusts (PCTs) and Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) across England, transferring between £60 billion and £80 billion of commissioning, or healthcare funds, from the abolished PCTs to several hundred clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), partly run by GPs. Executive agencies were also established under the Act. At its heart was the notion that more competition in the NHS would create a service fit for the 21st Century. The level of determination raised alarm bells. The scale of efficiency savings expected of the NHS was without precedent (House of Commons Health Committee, 2011). On completion of the Lansley reforms in 2015 health visitors were moved into local government and this accomplished the transfer of public health from the NHS to local councils.