National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973

National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973
Dates
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make further provision with respect to the national health service in England and Wales and amendments of the enactments relating to the national health service in Scotland; and for purposes connected with those matters.
Citation	1973 c. 32
Introduced by	Lord Aberdare
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Royal Assent	5 July 1973
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database
Revised text of statute as amended

The National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The purpose of the Act was to reorganise the National Health Service.

The Act also established the posts of Health Service Commissioner for England and Wales. Separate legislation was passed establishing the post in Scotland. The provisions of the Act relating to the Health Service Commissioners have largely been replaced by the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993.

The National Health Service had been excluded from the remit of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration when the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 became law.

The impetus for the establishment of a Health Ombudsman arose from growing dissatisfaction with the quality of service in the NHS through the 1960s. This was encapsulated by scandals about the care provided to the elderly and mentally ill at Ely Hospital in Cardiff, Farleigh Hospital in Bristol and Whittingham Hospital near Preston. Hospitals were free to determine their own complaints procedures for the investigation of complaints, subject only to guidance by the Ministry of Health. The Davies Report, published in 1973, criticised the complaints system then in place. The Government announced in 1972 that it intended to establish a Health Service Ombudsman and that this was to be at the apex of the NHS complaints system.

Provisions establishing the posts were not extensively discussed in debate in the House of Commons, indicating the consensus of opinion around their establishment.^[1]

References

↑ The Ombudsman, Citizen and Parliament, Gregory and Giddings (London, 2002), p515

United Kingdom legislation

Pre-Parliamentary legislation	List of English statutes Charter of Liberties Magna Carta

Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain	Acts of the Parliament of England to 1483 1485–1601 1603–1641 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660–1699 1700–1706 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland Acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700 1701–1800

Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain	1707–1719 1720–1739 1740–1759 1760–1779 1780–1800

Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	1801–1819 1820–1839 1840–1859 1860–1879 1880–1899 1900–1919 1920–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000 to date Halsbury's Statutes UK Statute Law Database Short titles

Church of England measures	List Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919

Legislation of devolved institutions	Acts of the Scottish Parliament Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland Orders in Council for Northern Ireland

Orders-in-Council	Order in Council

Secondary legislation	United Kingdom Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Act of Sederunt, Act of Adjournal

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration	Sir Edmund Compton Sir Alan Marre Sir Idwal Pugh Sir Cecil Clothier Sir Anthony Barrowclough Sir William Reid Sir Michael Buckley Ann Abraham Dame Julie Mellor

Health Service Commissioner for England	Sir Alan Marre Sir Idwal Pugh Sir Cecil Clothier Sir Anthony Barrowclough Sir William Reid Sir Michael Buckley Ann Abraham Dame Julie Mellor

Health Service Commissioner for Scotland (until 2002)	Sir Alan Marre Sir Idwal Pugh Sir Cecil Clothier Sir Anthony Barrowclough Sir William Reid Sir Michael Buckley

Health Service Commissioner for Wales (until 2003)	Sir Alan Marre Sir Idwal Pugh Sir Cecil Clothier Sir Anthony Barrowclough Sir William Reid Sir Michael Buckley Ann Abraham

Legislation	Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 Health Service Commissioners Act 1993

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