The NHS Is Being Dismantled. Here's What the New Health Bill Actually Does.

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The UK government has introduced the Health Bill 2026, the biggest restructure of the NHS since 2012. NHS England will be abolished in April 2027, with functions handed directly to ministers. But buried deeper in the bill is something that should alarm every patient: the complete abolition of Healthwatch England and all local Healthwatch organisations, the only independent statutory bodies with a legal duty to listen to patients and challenge the NHS.
Critics including the King's Fund and the Patients Association warn that placing the patient voice inside government is not the same as an independent body that can challenge it. The bill also introduces a centralised Single Patient Record linked to US data company Palantir, and absorbs the Health Services Safety Investigations Body into the CQC.
Parliament holds its first full debate on 1 June 2026.

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