Breaking down the Health Bill – with Clare Gerada and Nicholas Timmins
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The Labour government has embarked on a reorganisation of the NHS in England. And now the Health Bill (also known as the ‘NHS Modernisation Bill’) has been introduced in parliament to effect the changes.
Key provisions include merging NHS England into the Department of Health and Social Care, reforming data sharing to support creating a single patient record and shaking up patient voice functions by abolishing Healthwatch. But will any of this make a real difference to patients and the public?
We take a closer look at what’s in the bill and what it really means, and ask how Wes Streeting’s departure as health secretary is likely to affect the government’s reform agenda.
Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy and Research at the Health Foundation, is joined by:
- Clare Gerada, a GP and a crossbench peer in the House of Lords.
- Nicholas Timmins, an author and journalist who writes about the welfare state and the NHS and a senior fellow at the Institute for Government.
Show notes
UK parliament. Health Bill.
Department of Health and Social Care (2024). Independent investigation of the NHS in England: Lord Darzi's report on the state of the National Health Service in England.
BMJ (2026). Health bill brings NHS management back into government.
NHS Assembly (2023). NHS in England at 75: Priorities for the future.
The King’s Fund (2026). Before the next bill lands: what history tells us about NHS reorganisation.
Health Foundation (2026). Health bill hands power to ministers, but misses the biggest health challenges.