UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced substantial NHS reforms designed to reduce bureaucracy, make savings and empower NHS staff.

NHS England will be abolished by being brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), to end the duplication resulting from two organisations doing the same job in a system currently holding staff back from delivering for patients, said a government statement. The move is intended to undo a “disastrous” 2012 reorganisation, which led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction and most expensive NHS in history, said Wes Streeting, Health and Social Care secretary. “We need more doers and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline.”

The reform is part of the government’s plan to update the health service to meet three targets: analogue to digital, sickness to prevention and hospital to community. The recent Darzi report found England’s waiting list for elective treatment stood at 7.6 million in September 2024, with more than three million waiting over 18 weeks, with 10% of patients waiting for 12 hours or more in A&E.

Ensuring eyecare is part of a transformed primary care service is essential to meet the rising demand for healthcare of a growing, ageing population and shift to a prevention-led service that will help to keep people well and grow the economy, said Adam Sampson, chief executive of the Association of Optometrists (AOP).

“It is fair to say our evidence-based calls for extending the role of community optometry have been met with a combination of disinterest and resistance by some key individuals in NHS England; indeed, their preferred direction of travel seems to be to concentrate more rather than less of the limited eyecare spend in the hands of hospitals. As politicians of all persuasions have agreed today, this change will remove some of the blockers to the transformation of our health services.”

New Zealand’s minister of health Simeon Brown said he's aware of the recent NHS announcements and shares Streeting and Starmer’s commitment to reducing bureaucracy and putting the needs of patients first. "My priority is ensuring that all New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare. To achieve this, the government is focused on enabling frontline workers to get on with their jobs, with less red tape and more focus on putting patients first.”

Brown pointed out the government is reviewing New Zealand’s health workforce legislation to prioritise patient voices in regulatory decisions, reduce red tape to make healthcare more accessible, make it easier to recognise overseas regulations and drive efficiencies by streamlining regulatory decision making.