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Information about Department Of Health (united Kingdom)

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The Department of Health headquarters in Whitehall


The Department of Health (DoH) is a department of the United Kingdom government. It is led by the Secretary of State for Health with two Ministers of State and three Parliamentary Under-Secretary of States.

It is responsible for government policy on health, social care and the National Health Service (NHS) in England (through the Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs)).

The DoH carries out some of its work through "arm's length bodies", including executive agencies such as the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

In the rest of the United Kingdom, responsibility for health and the management of the NHS falls under the jurisdiction of the devolved governments of the other three constituent countries, namely:

History

The Department of Health was formally created in 1988, through The Transfer of Functions (Health and Social Security) Order 1988. Like many others, the department with responsibility for the nation's health has had different names and included other functions over time.[1]

In the 19th century, several bodies were formed for specific consultative duties and dissolved when they were no longer required. There were two incarnations of the Board of Health (in 1805 and 1831) and a General Board of Health (1854 to 1858) that reported directly into the Privy Council. Responsibility for health issues was also at times, and in part, vested in local health boards and, with the emergence of modern local government, with the Local Government Act Office, part of the Home Office. In the early part of the 20th century, medical assistance was provided through National Health Insurance Commissions.

The first body which could be called a department of government was the Ministry of Health, created in 1919 through the Ministry of Health Act, consolidating under a single authority the medical and public health functions of central government. The co-ordination of local medical services was expanded in connection with emergency and wartime services, from 1935 to 1945, and these developments culminated in the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948.

In 1968, the Ministry of Health was dissolved and its functions transferred (along with those of the similarly dissolved Ministry of Social Security) to the newly created Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS). Twenty years later, these functions were split back into two government departments, forming the Department of Social Security (DSS) and the current Department of Health.

Location

The official headquarters and Ministerial offices are in Richmond House, Whitehall, London. Many staff are in Skipton House, Elephant and Castle, London and were formerly in Alexander Fleming House and Hannibal House there. There are also many staff in Quarry House, Leeds and in Wellington House, near Waterloo station, London

Ministerial team

The current ministers at the DH are:.[2]

Permanent Secretary

The Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health was Sir Nigel Crisp from 2000 to 31 March 2006. Unlike his predecessors as permanent secretary, Sir Nigel Crisp was also Chief Executive of the NHS. Following his early resignation in March 2006, it was announced that the posts will be split. David Nicholson was appointed as Chief Executive of the NHS in September 2006. Hugh Taylor was appointed as the Permanent Secretary in December 2006 after serving as Acting Permanent Secretary following Sir Nigel Crisp's decision to retire.

Previous permanent secretaries:

Chief professional officers

The department has six chief professional officers who provide it with expert knowledge and also advise the Ministers, other government departments and the Prime Minister. The Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer are also directors of the department's board.
  • Chief Medical Officer for England (CMO) — Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, appointed in 1998.
  • Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) — Christine Beasley CBE, appointed in 2004.
  • Chief Dental Officer for England (CDO) — Barry Cockcroft, appointed in 2006.
  • Chief Health Professions Officer (CHPO) — Karen Middleton, appointed in 2007.
  • Chief Pharmaceutical Officer — Dr Keith William Ridge, appointed in 2006.
  • Chief Scientific Officer — Professor Sue Hill, appointed in 2002.

See also

References

1. ^ Health Departments. www.ndad.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
2. ^ Department of Health Ministers

External links

Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of Ministers and Secretaries of State. These members of the Cabinet are supported by civil servants in Ministerial Departments.
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Secretary of State for Health is a UK cabinet position responsible for the Department of Health. The current Secretary of State for Health is Alan Johnson, appointed on June 28th 2007 as part of Gordon Brown's first cabinet.
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Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister.
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A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, in the United Kingdom government structure, is a minister who is junior to a Minister of State who is in turn junior to a Secretary of State.
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In 1948, in its constitution, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" [1].
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Social Workers are concerned with social problems, their causes, their solutions and their human impacts. Social workers work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities, as members of a profession which is committed to social justice and human rights.
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National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded health care system In the United Kingdom. Each of the four constituent countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) have their own NHS, each of which are run along the same lines but are managed
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Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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NHS Strategic Health Authorities (SHA) are part of the structure of the National Health Service in England. In 2002, the existing NHS Health Authorities (see List of NHS Health Authorities (1996-2002)) were renamed and merged to form the 28 new
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An Executive Agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive.
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The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the UK government agency which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe.
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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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Devolution or home rule is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a state to government at national, regional, or local level. It differs from federalism in that the powers devolved may be temporary and ultimately reside in central government, thus
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Constituent countries is a phrase used, often by official institutions, in contexts in which a number of countries make up a larger entity or grouping, concerning these countries; thus the OECD has used the phrase in reference to the parts of former Yugoslavia[1]
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Northern Ireland

This article is part of the series:
Politics of Northern Ireland


In Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Assembly Acts: Acts
Members: 1998 - 2003 - 2007
Elections: 1998 - 2003 - 2007
Presiding Officer

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Northern Ireland

This article is part of the series:
Politics of Northern Ireland


In Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Assembly Acts: Acts
Members: 1998 - 2003 - 2007
Elections: 1998 - 2003 - 2007
Presiding Officer

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Scottish Government (SG) (Scottish Gaelic: Riaghaltas na h-Alba) is the executive arm of government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive
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Wales

This article is part of the series:
Politics of Wales

  • Contemporary Welsh Law
  • English Law
  • Courts of England and Wales
  • National Assembly for Wales

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Local Boards or Local Boards of Health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate slaughterhouses and ensure the proper
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National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded health care system In the United Kingdom. Each of the four constituent countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) have their own NHS, each of which are run along the same lines but are managed
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The Department of Health and Social Security was a ministry of the British Government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services.
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The Department of Social Security (DSS) is the name of similar defunct governmental agencies in the United Kingdom and Australia

In the United Kingdom, the DSS replaced the older Department of Health and Social Security, from 1988 until 2001, when it was itself largely
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Whitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London.
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London
Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers
London shown within England
Coordinates:
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
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Skipton House is an office block in Elephant and Castle, central London.

It was built for a Japanese bank and then sold on to accommodate staff of the Department of Health who were moved out of Alexander Fleming House. The project architect was Paul Cayford.
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Elephant & Castle


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Metro Central Heights is a residential building in the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally known as Alexander Fleming House, a multi-storey office building designed by Hungarian-born architect Ernő Goldfinger and constructed in the early 1960s for Arnold Lee of
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Hannibal House is an icon of 1960s office architecture positioned above the Elephant and Castle shopping centre in Southwark, south London.

Until 2005, the building housed various bodies and agencies of the British Department of Health, including the Devices section of the
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Quarry Hill is an inner-city area of east Leeds. It is that is surrounded by the A61 and A64 roads to the east of Leeds City Centre. The Leeds - York / Hull railway runs just south of the district into the city centre.
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Leeds

Leeds ()

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