Department of Health
From SR
Roles
The Department of Health's (DH) overall purpose is to ensure better health and well-being, better care and better value for all.
Areas of Focus:
- Setting direction -standards, strategic framework, spend
- Strategy
- Policy
- Legislation and regulation
- Allocating resources
- The NHS operating framework
- Local Area Agreements
- Supporting delivery
- Performance monitoring and evaluation
- Managerial and professional leadership for external groups
- Building capacity and capability
- Ensuring value for money
- Leading health and well-being for government
- Working with the wider public sector, the third and private sectors on issues such as health protection or lifestyle choices, including integrating health and well-being with other Government agendas at regional level through our regional teams
- Working with international partners, including the European Union (EU), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
- Accounting to Parliament and the public- supporting ministers, looking after and allocating public money
- Answering parliamentary questions - both written and oral and dealing with other Parliamentary business, debates and enquiries
- Responding to letters, emails, and phone calls from the public and members of Parliament
- Communicating to the public through the media and through visits and speeches.
- Supporting DH staff
Reporting Hierarchy
Ministers work with the Departmental board and clinical specialists to ensure the Department meets its objectives. The Department of Health ministers are led by the Secretary of State who is a Cabinet minister.
Structure
The Department of Health works with a range of national health and social care organisations:
- Arm’s length bodies (ALBs) are stand-alone national organisations sponsored by the Department of Health
- DH advisory bodies are committees, working groups and forums
- Stakeholders
