Jeremy Hunt warns Boris Johnson patient care will suffer if NHS reorganisation goes ahead

Former health secretary dismisses claims that structures hindered pandemic response – saying ‘I don’t think this was to do with NHS England’

Jeremy Hunt has urged Boris Johnson to drop plans for another huge reorganisation of the NHS, warning patient care will suffer if it goes ahead.

The former health secretary said he was “astonished” by evidence that preparatory work is under way, including to curb the arms-length independence of NHS England.

Mr Hunt urged the prime minister to look at the deep problems the NHS faces: “the social care system, which desperately needs a 10-year plan, the Cumberlege report into vaginal mesh, the issues in the Shrewsbury and Telford maternity safety report”.

He said: “If you want to improve care for patients, then looking at the quality and safety of care is going to have far more impact than another big reorganisation.”

NHS England is in the firing line, because of clashes with Matt Hancock, the health secretary, over testing and personal protective equipment shortages during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ministers are said to be keen to “clip Simon Stevens’ wings”, because of frustration at the performance of the health service’s chief executive.

But Mr Hunt said he believed the last big NHS overhaul, in 2012, was one of David Cameron’s “biggest regrets”, adding: “I would be astonished if Boris wanted to do the same.”

And, pointing to criticism of various aspects of the government’s response to the crisis, he told BBC Radio 4: “I don’t think this was to do with NHS England.”

The King’s Fund think-tank has also cautioned that fresh upheaval could damage the government and destabilise the NHS.

“Any large-scale reorganisation of the NHS comes at a high price as they distract and disrupt the service and risk paralysing the system,” said Richard Murray, its chief executive.

“The last major reorganisation came in the 2012 Lansley reforms. These proved hugely controversial for the coalition government but perhaps worse, they have not stood the test of time.

“The changes we see in the NHS now – towards better integration and working across the health and care system – have come despite the 2012 act, not because of it.

“They stand as a warning against large-scale change that tips the entire NHS into reorganising the deckchairs.”

The prime minister is believed to have set up a taskforce to devise plans to regain much of the direct control over the NHS that ministers lost in 2012.

Made up of senior civil servants and advisers from No 10, the Treasury and Department of Health and Social Care, the taskforce is drawing up proposals that would restrict Stevens’ freedom to run NHS England, The Guardian reported.

In the summer, it will present Johnson with a set of detailed options and will be followed by a bill to enact the proposals, it is understood.

But a No 10 spokesperson said: “This is pure speculation. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, our focus is on protecting the public, controlling the spread of the virus and saving lives.”