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The Department of Health (DoH) is a department of the United Kingdom government. It is led by the Secretary of State for Health with three junior Ministers of State.
It responsible for government policy on health and social care and is directly responsible for the National Health Service in England (through the Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs)). In other parts of the UK, responsibility for health and the management of the NHS has been devolved to local administrations. These are:
- Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Northern Ireland)
- The Scottish Executive Health Department
- The Welsh Assembly Government
The DoH carries out some of its work through "arm's length bodies", including Executive agencies such as NHS Estates, NHS Pensions Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Like many other UK ministries or departments of state, the Department of Health has been known by various other names. It started out as the Board of Health, then became the Ministry of Health. It was also for a time combined with social security, creating the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) (1968–1988).
Location
The official headquarters and Ministerial offices are in Richmond House, Whitehall, London. Many staff are in Skipton House, Elephant and Castle, London and were formerly in Alexander Fleming House and Hannibal House there. There are also many staff in Quarry House, Leeds and in Wellington House, near Waterloo station, London
Ministerial team
Source: *
- Secretary of State for Health - Rt. Hon Patricia Hewitt
- Minister of State for NHS Reform - Lord Warner
- Minister of State for Health Services - Rosie Winterton
- Minister of State for Delivery and Quality - Andrew Burnham
- Minister of State for Public Health - Caroline Flint
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Care Services - Ivan Lewis
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health was Sir Nigel Crisp from 2000 to 31 March 2006. Unlike his predecessors as permanent secretary, Sir Nigel Crisp was also Chief Executive of the NHS. Following his early resignation in March 2006, it was announced that the posts will be split. Sir Ian Carruthers, the acting director of commissioning, takes over as acting NHS Chief Executive. Hugh Taylor, the director of strategy and business development, becomes acting Permanent Secretary.
Previous permanent secretaries:
- Sir Kenneth Stowe GCB CVO 1981-1987 (DHSS)
- Sir Christopher France, (DHSS including social security: 1987-1988, DoH: 1987-1992)
- Sir Graham Hart KCB 1992-1997
- Sir Christopher Kelly KCB 1997-2000
- Sir Nigel Crisp KCB 1997-2006
Chief Medical Officer
The Chief medical officer (CMO), the principal medical advisor to the government, is currently Professor Sir Liam Donaldson (since 1998)
See also
External link
Healthcare in the United Kingdom | Departments of the United Kingdom Government | National Health Service
"Department of Health (United Kingdom)"