The Health and Social Care Act
Health and Social Care Act 2012
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date. It removed responsibility for the health of citizens from the Secretary of State for Health, which the post had carried since the inception of the NHS in 1948. It abolished NHS primary care trusts and Strategic Hea…
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the publicly funded national healthcare system for England and one of the four National Health Services for each constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the largest single-payer healthcare system in the world. Primarily funded through the government f…
Shas
Shas is an ultra-Orthodox religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily represents the interests of Haredi Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. …
What is the health and Social Care Act 2012 (C7)?
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (c 7) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date.
What is Section 5 and 6 of the health and Care Act?
1447. Subsections ( 5) and ( 6) require any health or social care body or other provider of health services or adult social care to whom advice or guidance is given to have regard to the advice or guidance when exercising functions or providing services in connection with the provision of health or adult social care. 1448.
When did the health and Social Care Act 2012 get royal assent?
The House of Commons agreed the amendments made in the House of Lords on 20 March 2012 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 received royal assent on 27 March 2012.
What is Section 1 of the health and Social Care Act?
Subsection ( 1) provides that the need to maintain the safety of people who use health care services would be paramount amongst the matters that Monitor must have regard to in carrying out its functions. 683. Subsection ( 2 ) (a) concerns the need for continuous improvement in quality and efficiency in NHS services.
What does the Health and Social Care Act 2012?
The main aims of the Act are to change how NHS care is commissioned through the greater involvement of clinicians and a new NHS Commissioning Board; to improve accountability and patient voice; to give NHS providers new freedoms to improve quality of care; and to establish a provider regulator to promote economic, ...
When was the Health and Social Care Act 2012 introduced?
Health and Social Care Act 2012DatesRoyal assent27 March 2012Status: Current legislationHistory of passage through ParliamentText of statute as originally enacted6 more rows
What are the principles of the Health and Social Care Act?
The Standards are underpinned by five principles: dignity and respect, compassion, be included, responsive care, and support and wellbeing.
How does the Health and Social Care Act 2012 inform practice?
The Health and Social Care Act 2012, states that each Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) must, in the exercise of its functions, have regard to the need to: Reduce inequalities between patients with respect to their ability to access health services.
What does the Health and Social Care Act 2012 say about confidentiality?
It includes the NHS Act 2006, the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the Data Protection Act, and the Human Rights Act. The law allows personal data to be shared between those offering care directly to patients but it protects patients' confidentiality when data about them are used for other purposes.
What is the Health and Social Care Act 2021?
The main purpose of the Health and Care Act is to establish a legislative framework that supports collaboration and partnership-working to integrate services for patients. Among a wide range of other measures, the Act also includes targeted changes to public health, social care and the oversight of quality and safety.
What are the 5 principles of the health and social care standards?
The Standards are built upon five principles; dignity and respect, compassion, be included, responsive care and support and wellbeing.
Why is the care Act important in health and social care?
The Care Act helps to improve people's independence and wellbeing. It makes clear that local authorities must provide or arrange services that help prevent people developing needs for care and support or delay people deteriorating such that they would need ongoing care and support.
Why was the Health and Social Care Act 2012 introduced?
The legislation had two key objectives: To improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients and to reposition the mode of provision so that health service provision becomes more patient-centred and facilitates choice.
When was the Health and Social Care Act passed?
NHS England (1.1) Explanation: The NHS Commissioning Board was established through the Health and Social Care Act 2012 as an independent, non-departmental public body with executive powers, accountable to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (the Secretary of State) and to Parliament.
When was the Health and Social Care Act most recently updated?
The NHS changed with Health and Social Care Act 2012 bringing in the most wide-ranging reforms of the NHS since it was founded in 1948. On 1 April 2013 the main changes set out in the Act came into force, and most parts of the NHS were affected in some way.
What is the Health and Social Care Act 2014?
The Care Act 2014 is the law that sets out how adult social care in England should be provided. It requires local authorities to make sure that people who live in their areas: receive services that prevent their care needs from becoming more serious or delay the impact of their needs.
What is the Health and Social Care Act 2012?
Revised text of statute as amended. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 ( c 7) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date. It removed responsibility for the health of citizens from the Secretary of State for Health, ...
Who opposes the Health and Social Care Bill?
The British Medical Association opposes the bill, and held its first emergency meeting in 19 years, which asked the government to withdraw the bill and reconsider the reforms, although a motion of no confidence in Andrew Lansley by the BMA failed. A later motion of no confidence in Lansley by attendees at the Royal College of Nursing Conference in 2011, however, succeeded, with 96% voting in favour of the motion, and several speeches thereafter condemning Lansley threefold: the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 as-written; Lansley's decision not to address the entire Conference with a speech, but instead to hold a separate meeting with 40 Conference attendees in a separate space (taken as an insult to nurses, and leading to accusations of 'gutlessness'); and the current separate "efficiency savings" measures being undertaken across the NHS and those actions' material impact on frontline medical services, especially as contrasted with several prominent officials, including NHS leaders and Lansley himself, repeatedly assuring that NHS frontline services are 'protected' at all times regardless of these "savings" measures. "People will die", Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, warned in March 2012, as he predicted "unprecedented chaos" as a result of the reforms, with a leaked draft risk-assessment claiming that emergencies could be less well managed and the increased use of the private sector could drive up costs.
What is NHS England?
Parts 1 and 2 Health service in England. Section 9 establishes the National Health Service Commissioning Board, which is now known as NHS England. The Secretary of State is to publish, annually, a document known as the mandate which specifies the objectives which the Board should seek to achieve.
What is Section 10?
Section 10 establishes Clinical Commissioning Groups which are to arrange the provision of health services in each local area. Section 11 makes the protection of public health a duty of the Secretary of State, and section 12 makes local authorities responsible for improving the health of the people in their areas.
What is the purpose of the National Health Service Commissioning Board?
Long title. An Act to establish and make provision about a National Health Service Commissioning Board and clinical commissioning groups and to make other provision about the National Health Service in England; to make provision about public health in the United Kingdom; to make provision about regulating health and adult social care services;
When will the NHS be integrated?
The publication of the NHS Long Term Plan in January 2019 marked the official abandonment of the policy of competition in the English NHS, with integrated care systems to be created across England by 2021, mergers of Clinical Commissioning Groups and probable merging of NHS England with NHS Improvement, though this was all to happen without actually repealing the legislation. In February 2019 NHS England produced a document outlining changes it wanted to see in legislation. One of the central proposals was to remove the obligation to put services out to competitive tender if local commissioners considered a service would be best provided from within the NHS.
What is Healthwatch England?
Sections 181 to 189 establish Healthwatch England, responsible for gathering and championing the views of users of health and social care services in order to identify improvements and influence providers' plans.
What Version
Latest Available (revised): The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Changes to legislation
There are outstanding changes not yet made by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team to Health and Social Care Act 2012. Those changes will be listed when you open the content using the Table of Contents below.
When did the Health and Social Care Act get royal assent?
1. These explanatory notes relate to the Health and Social Care Act, which received Royal Assent on 27 March 2012. They have been prepared by the Department of Health in order to assist the reader of the Act. They do not form part of the Act and have not been endorsed by Parliament. 2.
What is Part 6 of the NHS Act?
27. Part 6 makes changes to the NHS Act that are mainly required to revise, but not substantially change, the existing provisions with relation to medical, dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical services, as a consequence of the creation of the NHS Commissioning Board, CCGs and the public health service and the abolition of PCTs and SHAs.
What is section 3 of the NHS Act?
Section 3 inserts new section 1B into the NHS Act, placing a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the NHS Constitution when exercising his functions in relation to the health service. Therefore when discharging any of those functions, the Secretary of State must do so with regard to the principles, values, rights and pledges in the NHS Constitution. The NHS Constitution is included in the list of defined expressions in section 276 of the NHS Act, directing readers of the Act to the definition at subsection (2) of new section 1B.
What is Chapter 1 of the Care Quality Commission?
Chapter 1 makes provision for the creation of a new national body, Healthwatch England, to be established as a statutory committee within the Care Quality Commission. It also makes provision about Local Healthwatch organisations in each local authority area.
Which section of the NHS Act repeals PCTs?
403. This section abolishes PCTs and repeals Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the NHS Act, which makes provision for PCTs.
When will SHAs be abolished?
It is intended that SHAs will be abolished on 1st April 2013.
What is section 406 of the Water Industry Act?
Subsections (2) to (8) amend the Act to provide for the Secretary of State to make arrangements with a water undertaker to fluoridate a water supply. However, he may only do so if a local authority has made a fluoridation proposal, consulted on that proposal, and taken a final decision in accordance with the new sections of the 1991 Act inserted by section 36.
When did the Health and Social Care Act get royal assent?
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 finally received royal assent after an unprecedented 'pause' during scrutiny by the House of Commons and a difficult passage through the House of Lords.
What were the issues with the move of public health to local government?
While it was acknowledged that the plans to move public health functions to local government were broadly supported, there were issues relating to implementation, including concerns about the role and status of the director of public health and the possible politicisation of the function.
What are the key themes of the NHS debate?
Other key themes across the debate included continuing concerns about the role of the secretary of state and accountability for the NHS, the role of competition, fragmentation of the NHS and complexity of the new system, the cost of the reforms, the removal of the foundation trust private income cap and the the role of education and training.
What is the new structure of the NHS?
The new structure abolishes Primary Care Trusts and introduces an independent NHS Board which amongst other tasks will provide commissioning advice and allocate resources. The Act also increases GPs’ powers to commission services on behalf of their patients via new commissioning consortia.
What is state aid?
“State aid” refers to forms of assistance from a public body or publicly funded body given to selected undertakings which has the ability to distort competition. Commissioning consortia should be particularly wary of this where any payments above market rate may be made to healthcare providers.
How to contact Kerry Smith?
If you require any further information please contact Kerry Smith on 0370 238 8176. If you or a loved one has been affected by a health or social care decision, our healthcare & social services solicitors could help you make a challenge. Visit our Protecting Your Rights Section for information.
What is the purpose of the monitor?
Monitor, the body which currently regulates NHS Foundation hospitals, will have a duty to eliminate anti-competitive behaviour in the NHS generally. Monitor will have powers similar to the OFT and its primary concern will be to promote the interests and welfare of people who use health care services.
Do commissioning consortia have to be wary of legal action?
Commissioning consortia will be wary of legal action being taken by private healthcare providers under the procurement rules and this may impact on both the level of services they commission and the time taken. The rules of state aid will also apply to consortia.
Will commissioning consortia be subject to procurement rules?
Commissioning consortia will be subject to procurement rules when they commission healthcare providers. There will be more commissioning consortia than the PCTs that they are replacing and it is likely that commissioning health services will become more complex.
When was the Health and Social Care Act passed?
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (“the Act”) was given Royal Assent on 27 March 2012 and is quoted as being one of the “biggest reorganisations in the history of the health service”. The Act focuses on restructuring the NHS with the intent to open the system up to competition and promote patient choice while reducing NHS administration costs.
What is the Health and Social Care Act 2012?
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 brings in profound changes to the organisation of healthcare in England. These changes are briefly described and their implications for mental health services are explored. They occur as the National Health Service (NHS) and social care are experiencing significant financial cuts, the payment by results regime is being introduced for mental health and the NHS is pursuing the personalisation agenda. Psychiatrists have an opportunity to influence the commissioning of mental health services if they understand the organisational changes and work within the new commissioning structures.
When did the Health and Social Care Bill become law?
All healthcare professionals working in England should be aware of the controversy surrounding the latest Health and Social Care Bill, which became an Act on 27 March 2012 after a very protracted passage through Parliament.
What are the headline changes in healthcare?
The headline changes relate to the management and commissioning of healthcare. The previous structure, which had the Department of Health setting policy and budgets, strategic health authorities responsible for an overview of performance within large geographical areas and primary care trusts engaged in local commissioning, is swept away. The Department of Health will still exist but the centre of gravity will move to the NHS Commissioning Board, which was already in place in shadow form before the Act was passed. The Board, which includes key players from the former Department of Health structures, will oversee the work of a proposed 212 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). It will have four regions and, it has recently been announced, 27 ‘local area teams’ (LATs) - closely reflecting the 28 strategic health authorities in place between 2002 and 2006. A smaller number of LATs will have a role in commissioning specialised services on behalf of a grouping of LATs - this is relevant to mental health services because of responsibilities the NHS Commissioning Board will have in commissioning highly specialised mental health services and secure services. Some commentators have noted that these massive organisational changes have resulted in a management configuration for the NHS rather similar to previous structures (with a couple of added layers) in a classic case of ‘ Plus ça change (plus c'est la même chose) ’.
What is NHS commissioning support?
The NHS Commissioning Board states that ‘niche commissioning support offers’ may develop ‘providing specialist subject matter expertise for particular services or functions, for example in the areas of mental health, continuing care and safeguarding or health economics and specialist procurement advice’ 5 (p. 11).
Is the NHS pursuing the personalisation agenda?
They occur as the National Health Service (NHS) and social care are experiencing significant financial cuts, the payment by results regime is being introduced for mental health and the NHS is pursuing the personalisation agenda.
Overview
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (c 7) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date. It removed responsibility for the health of citizens from the Secretary of State for Health, which the post had carried since the inception of the NHS in 1948. It abolished primary …
Background
The proposals in the act were not discussed during the general election campaign in 2010 and were not contained in the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement of 20 May 2010, which declared an intention to "stop the top-down reorganisations of the NHS that have got in the way of patient care". However, within two months a white paper outlined what the Daily Telegraph called the "biggest revolution in the NHS since its foundation". The white paper, Equity and Excell…
Contents
Section 9 establishes the National Health Service Commissioning Board, which is now known as NHS England. The Secretary of State is to publish, annually, a document known as the mandate which specifies the objectives which the Board should seek to achieve. National Health Service (Mandate Requirements) Regulations are published each year to give legal force to the mandate.
Section 10 establishes Clinical Commissioning Groups which are to arrange the provision of heal…
Public reactions
On 19 January 2012 two major unions of healthcare professionals that had previously tried to work with the government on the bill, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives, decided instead to join with the British Medical Association in "outright opposition" to the bill. On 3 February 2012 the Royal College of General Practitioners also called on the Prime Minist…
Effect of the act
In January 2015 Chris Ham and others from the King's Fund produced a review of the government's health reforms. Their conclusions as far as the act was concerned were that:
• The reforms resulted in greater marketisation of the NHS but claims of mass privatisation are exaggerated
• The reforms resulted in top-down reorganisation of the NHS which was distracting and damaging
See also
• Doctors For the NHS
• Nicholson challenge
• National Health Action Party
• National Health Service Act 2006
External links
• Bill as introduced in the House of Commons
• Bill as introduced in the House of Lords (reflecting changes made after the Listening Exercise)
• Bill progress page on parliament.uk
• BMJ minisite focusing on reforms to the NHS