Government officials insisted this did not amount to “a top-down reorganisation” in the mould of former Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley’s changes, which were so extensive that the NHS’s then-CEO quipped they could be seen from space.

By contrast, Wes Streeting’s action represents a revival of an older Labour tradition, shadowing the politics of the Health Minister, ‘Nye’ Bevan, who drove the foundation of the NHS in the 1940s. If a “bedpan” fell in his birthplace, Tredegar in South Wales, the sound would “reverberate around Whitehall”.

More quangos could be in firing line after NHS England scrapped, says Streeting - Wes Streeting said his team would have a ‘relentless’ focus on ‘slashing bloated bureaucracy’.

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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced plans to dismantle NHS England, shifting its operations back under direct government control. The move aims to streamline the healthcare system, reduce administrative overheads,