department of health and social care department of health and social care the department of health and social care (dhsc) is a department of his majesty's government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in england, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the scottish government, welsh government or northern ireland executive. it oversees the english national health service (nhs). the department is led by the secretary of state for health and social care with three ministers of state and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state. department of health and social caredepartment overviewformed1988preceding departmentdepartment of health and social securityjurisdictiongovernment of the united kingdomheadquarters39 victoria street london sw1h 0euemployees1,588 (2019/20)annual budget£138.9 billion; 2020–21 ($185 billion)minister responsiblesteve barclay, secretary of state for health and social caredepartment executivesir chris wormald, permanent secretarywebsitewww.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care the department develops policies and guidelines to improve the quality of care and to meet patient expectations. it carries out some of its work through arms-length bodies (albs), including executive non-departmental public bodies such as nhs england and the nhs digital, and executive agencies such as the uk health security agency and the medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency (mhra). the dhsc also manages the work of the national institute for health and care research (nihr). the expenditure, administration and policy of the department are scrutinised by the health and social care select committee. according to david nicholson it's attractive to politicians because "its the largest toy train set in europe." history like many others, the department with responsibility for the nation's health has had different names and has included other functions at different times. in the 19th century, several bodies were formed for specific consultative duties and were dissolved when they were no longer required. there were two incarnations of a board of health, in 1805 and 1831, and from 1854 to 1858 a general board of health reported directly to the privy council. responsibility for health issues was also in part vested in local health boards, which existed from 1848 to 1894. in 1871, the local government board was created to supervise such local functions as health and sanitation and also took over the functions of the poor law board, which was abolished. the public health act 1875 designated sanitary districts, which by the local government act 1894 became rural and urban district councils. with the emergence of modern local government, some of its supervision was done by the local government act office, part of the home office. the ministry of health act 1919 abolished the local government board and transferred its powers and duties to a new department called the ministry of health, which consolidated under a single authority the medical and public health functions of central government. this took on the medical duties of the board of education, the duties of the privy council under the midwives acts, the powers of the home secretary in relation to the children act 1908, and the duties of the insurance commissioners and the welsh insurance commissioners. in the early part of the 20th century, medical assistance had been provided through these national health insurance commissions. most of the local government board staff transferred to the new ministry. the co-ordination of local medical services was expanded in connection with emergency and wartime services, from 1935 to 1945, and these developments culminated in the establishment of the nhs in 1948. in 1968, the ministry of health was dissolved and its functions transferred (along with those of the similarly dissolved ministry of social security) to the newly created department of health and social security (dhss). twenty years later, in 1988, these functions were split back into two government departments, forming the department of social security (dss) and the department of health, formally created in through the transfer of functions (health and social security) order 1988. after the 2018 british cabinet reshuffle, the department was renamed the department of health and social care. location the department's headquarters and ministerial offices are at 39 victoria street, london. the department moved from its previous location in richmond house, whitehall in november 2017. its other principal offices are skipton house (elephant and castle), wellington house near waterloo station and quarry house in leeds. wellington house is now mainly occupied by staff from the department's arms-length bodies. new king's beam house near blackfriars bridge was formerly a department of health office prior to the expiry of its lease in october 2011. alexander fleming house, hannibal house and eileen house (all in elephant and castle) were previously used by the department. the archives are at nelson, lancashire. ministers as of october 2022 there are 6 ministerial posts at the dhsc, including: the secretary of state, two ministers of state, and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state. the ministers are as follows: minister rank portfolio the rt hon steve barclay secretary of state overall responsibility helen whately mp minister of state for social care adult social care (winter planning, funding and markets, quality, workforce); integration, including discharge; community health services; major diseases (cancer, diabetes, strokes); rare diseases; screening; dementia; end-of-life care; covid-19 vaccine licensing; long-term conditions will quince mp minister of state for health and secondary care nhs secondary care (urgent and emergency care, ambulances, elective care, reconfigurations, special measures regime); hospital reconfigurations; secondary care workforce (50,000 nurses, supply/education/training, leadership, pay and pensions, industrial relations); winter planning; nhs long term plan; nhs england mandate and business plan; research (genomics, genetics and regenerative medicine, nhs test beds, national institute for health and care research); life sciences; medicines and medicines regulation (pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, uptake of new drugs, medical technology, medicines supply, medicinal cannabis, antivirals and therapeutics); international, devolved administrations, crown dependencies and overseas territories; sponsorship of nhs business services authority, health education england, national institute for health and care excellence, medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency, health research authority. maria caulfield mp parliamentary under-secretary of state for mental health and women's health strategy women's health; materniry services; gender identity services; cosmetic regulation; dhsc litigation; mental health (children and young people and early intervention, mental health act, suicide prevention and crisis prevention); bereavement; disabilities, including autism; offender health; patient safety (clinical negligence, historic inquiries, quality regulation, death certification, indemnity, patient safety commissioner); vaccine damage payment scheme; patient experience; uk health security agency; vaccines; emergency preparedness; sponsorship of healthcare safety investigation branch, care quality commission, nhs resolution, human fertilisation and embryology authority, human tissue authority, ukhsa. neil o'brien mp parliamentary under-secretary of state for primary care and public health primary care; blood, transplant and organs; office for health improvement and disparities; long covid; antimicrobial resistance and global health security; sponsorship of nhs blood and transplant, food standards agency. nick markham, baron markham cbe parliamentary under-secretary of state in house of lords (unpaid) system performance and operational efficiency; capital and estatessponsorship of nhs accelerated access collaborative, nhs business services authority permanent secretary the permanent secretary at the department of health and social care is sir christopher wormald kcb, who was appointed in 2016. previous permanent secretaries: dame una o'brien 2010–2016 sir hugh taylor kcb 2006–2010 sir nigel crisp kcb 2000–2006 sir christopher kelly kcb 1997–2000 sir graham hart kcb 1992–? sir christopher france gcb (dhss including social security: 1987–1988, dh: 1987–1992) sir kenneth stowe gcb cvo 1981–1987 (dhss) following the resignation of sir nigel crisp in march 2006, a separate post of chief executive of the national health service in england was created, held by sir david nicholson. following the health and social care act 2012 and the creation of the independent nhs commissioning board, known as nhs england, this post has evolved into chief executive of the new organisation. chief professional officers the department has six chief professional officers who provide it with expert knowledge and also advise the ministers, other government departments and the prime minister. the chief medical officer and chief nursing officer are also directors of the department's board. positionholderdate ofappointment chief medical officer for england (cmo)professor chris whittyoct 2019 chief nursing officer (cno)she is now part of nhs england (nhs commissioning board)dame ruth may2019 director of nursingprofessor viv bennett chief scientific officer (cso)professor sue hill obe2002 chief dental officer for england (cdo)dr caroline lappin2019 chief health professions officer (chpo)professor karen middleton2007 chief pharmaceutical officerdr keith william ridge2006 chief social worker for adultslyn romeo cbe2013 chief social worker for children and families(role jointly under department of education).isabelle trowler2013 arms-length bodies (albs) the department acts as a 'steward' for the health and adult social care system in england and oversees fifteen arms-length bodies (albs): executive agencies the department has two executive agencies: the medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency has the specialist role of assessing, licensing and regulating medicines and medical devices for use in the united kingdom. until april 1, 2021, public health england was responsible for delivering public health improvement through prevention and awareness raising and protection. it was replaced by a new agency uk health security agency since april 2021, and became fully operational in october 2021. executive non-departmental public bodies the department has thirteen executive non-departmental public bodies: united kingdom the human tissue authority regulates the use of human tissue in research and therapeutic treatments across the united kingdom. the human fertilisation and embryology authority, which regulates and inspects in vitro fertilisation, artificial insemination and the storage of human eggs, sperm or embryos. it also regulates human embryo research. england and wales nhs blood and transplant, which is responsible for the supply of blood, organs, tissues and stem cells; their donation, storage and transportation. the national institute for health and care excellence (nice), which provides advice on treatment procedures and assesses healthcare interventions for cost-effectiveness. the nhs business services authority provides business support services to nhs organisations, including the administration of the nhs pension scheme. england only the care quality commission (cqc) has the primary function of inspecting providers of health and adult social care in england, ensuring that they meet essential standards of safety and quality. nhs digital, which provides statistical information and informatics support to the health and care system in england. health education england is responsible for ensuring enough high-quality training is available to develop the healthcare workforce. nhs england oversees the nhs in england, commissions specialised healthcare services and primary care services and oversees clinical commissioning groups and as of 1 april 2019 (formalised in june 2022,) oversees nhs trusts and foundation trusts in england, due to a merger with nhs improvement which itself was only formed in april 2016 by combining: monitor, which oversaw foundation trusts and applications from nhs trusts seeking foundation trust status. it also had the new role of examining pricing and competition in the nhs. the nhs trust development authority had the function of helping nhs trusts achieve successful applications for foundation trust status. the health research authority protects and promotes the interests of patients and the public in health research. nhs resolution, handles negligence claims and helps the nhs learn lessons from claims to improve patient and staff safety. the nhs counter fraud authority, tasked with leading the fight against nhs fraud and corruption. criticism quarry house: a dh building shared with the department for work and pensions at quarry hill, leeds (known locally as 'the kremlin'). introduction of user charges for nhs services the publication of professor lord darzi's review of the nhs prompted criticism of the government and the department of health, claiming that it paved the way for user charging, and so contradicting the nhs plan 2000 which stated that "user charges are unfair and inequitable in they increase the proportion of funding from the unhealthy, old and poor compared with the healthy, young and wealthy". the report also introduces the concept of personal budgets. fragmentation of nhs services darzi's report splits previously integrated services into 'core', 'additional' and 'enhanced' services, which critics say will lead to abandoning the open-ended duty of care on which the nhs was founded. "superbugs" and pfi fatal outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria ("superbugs"), such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) and clostridium difficile, in nhs hospitals has led to criticism in 2008 of the department's decision to outsource cleaning via private finance initiative contracts as "cutting corners on cleaning". a "deep clean" initiative announced by the department of health was criticised by infection control experts and by