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By Erin Dean

Big changes have been proposed or are already underway for the NHS. From a digital transformation to plans for neighbourhood health centres, Doctors.net.uk breaks down what you need to know about the government's most significant initiatives.

Abolition of NHS England

In March, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced NHS England would be abolished, with the arms-length organisation merged with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over the next two years.

This would reduce duplication while cutting 18,000 jobs from managerial and administrative posts, the government said.

Earlier this month, health secretary Wes Streeting said he had secured £1 billion from the Treasury so that the thousands of redundancies – which include those at integrated care boards – could go ahead.

Slashing unnecessary bureaucracy will ultimately raise £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament to improve services for patients, according to the DHSC.

But the Royal College of Nursing has warned that firing staff them could be a “false economy”.