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Department of Health
The Department of Health
The Department of Health's aim is to
improve the health and wellbeing of the people of England. Its work includes
setting national standards and shaping the direction of the NHS and social care
services, and promoting healthier living. Health and social care services are
delivered through the NHS, local authorities, arm's length bodies and other
public and private sector organisations.
The Department of Health
The Ministry of Health was established in
1919. It brought together the medical and public health functions of central
government and co-ordinated and supervised local health services in England and
Wales. The Ministry's responsibilities covered the powers and duties in
relation to the Poor Laws, health of mothers, treatment of school children,
limited health insurance, environmental health factors such as water, housing,
sewerage, town planning, mental health and preventative and curative
medicine
The new Ministry made improvements in areas such as adoption,
tackling smoking, housing (a traditional cause of ill health), public health,
food and medicines as well as offering advice to voluntary hospitals, which
provided most medical training. In 1928 the Ministry published a White Paper
that represented the first steps towards a better organised health care system.
The Second World War highlighted the pre-war lack of proper co-ordination of
health services and the duplications and gaps in services that were being
provided by 3,000 autonomous institutions. This led to a co-ordinated wartime
Emergency Hospital Service and planning for peacetime services that laid the
foundation for a national planned service. In 1942 the report Social Insurance
and Allied Services (better known as the Beveridge Report) was published. The
report proposed a weekly national insurance contribution in return for benefits
paid to the sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. It proposed that 'medical
treatment covering all requirements will be provided for all citizens by a
national health service organised under the health departments and post-medical
rehabilitation treatment will be provided for all persons capable of profiting
by it'. The Report was followed by a White Paper in 1944 and the National
Health Service Act 1946 that led to the establishment of the National Health
Service (NHS) on 5 July 1948. With the creation of the NHS the Ministry changed
its role from a regulator to a manager of a unified health system, consisting
of two ministers and around 2,700 civil servants.
The NHS was created
in 1948. It brought together hospitals, GPs, opticians, dentists and many other
services into an integrated and organised service that provided healthcare for
the whole population.
The Ministry of Health's early focus was NHS
finances. Increases in the range and complexity of medical procedures and wider
political pressures led to the Guillebaud Committee report in 1953. Although
the report was unable to resolve the financial difficulties the NHS faced, it
did call for the establishment of better information and analytical services.
This led to the creation of the Statistics Branch and health services research
within the Ministry to support ministers and policy-makers. Elsewhere, the
Ministry began work to improve dental services and in 1962 it produced the
Hospital Plan to address the uncoordinated building of hospitals in an attempt
to give clear strategic direction.
In 1974 the Ministry (which had
become part of the Department of Health and Social Security in 1966), undertook
the first national reorganisation of the NHS in response to calls for improved
co-ordination of services and more integrated care. This reflected concerns
from the NHS and the health professions that the existing arrangement had not
created an integrated, unified system. Subsequent reorganisations in 1982 and
in 1991 sought to create a better co-ordinated and integrated system.
The 1997 White Paper, The New NHS: Modern, Dependable, set out a new
approach to the NHS based on partnership and driven by performance. This formed
the basis for future NHS reforms outlined in The NHS Plan (2000), Delivering
the NHS Plan (2001) and The NHS Improvement Plan (2004). These proposed new
targets, increases in workforce and new structures within both the NHS and the
Department of Health to deliver better and more effective health and social
care. In 2005 the NHS has a workforce of 1.3 million people which includes
doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, managers, ambulance staff, therapists
technicians, managers and IT support.
www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm
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