Health and Care Act 2022

Overview of the Act

Reproduced verbatim from the Explanatory Notes published with the Act on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Explanatory Notes are prepared by the responsible government department and are not part of the Act.

The key purpose of the Health and Care Act is to give effect to the policies that were set out as part of the NHS’ recommendations for legislative reform in the NHS Long Term Plan and in the White Paper "Integration and Innovation: Working together to improve Health and Social Care for all" published in February 2021.

The Act: Promotes local collaboration; Allows for the reform of the NHS procurement rules; Improves accountability and seeks to enhance public confidence in the health and care system; and Delivers a range of targeted measures to support people at all stages of life.

The Act builds on recommendations for reform set out by NHS England in the NHS Long Term Plan published in 2019. Enshrining the NHS Long Term Plan in legislation was also a Conservative Manifesto Commitment in the 2019 General Election.

The Act also contains provisions relating to social care, public health and quality and safety in the NHS. These are designed to address specific problems or remove barriers to delivery and to maximise opportunities for improvement, and have, in some cases, been informed by the experience of the pandemic.