The British prime minister said he would scrap an agency that was created in 2013 to help run the health service. He said the move would save money by avoiding duplication.

Sir Keir Starmer has abolished NHS England to bring the health service back into government control in an attempt to cut bureaucracy and save money. In a surprise move, the leader of the party which founded the NHS, announced he would abolish the independent quango which has run the health service for more than a decade, cutting up to 10,000 jobs.

The NHS is the largest public sector organisation in England, seeing 1.7 million people each day including in patients’ own homes, local GP surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals. It employs 1.7 million people, is funded largely out of general taxation, and has an annual budget of about £190 billion.