Health and Social Care Act 2012

<p>The Bill proposes to create an independent NHS Board, promote patient choice, and to reduce NHS administration costs.</p><p><strong>Key areas</strong></p><ul><li>establishes an independent NHS Board to allocate resources and provide commissioning guidance</li><li>increases GPs&rsquo; powers to commission services on behalf of their patients</li><li>strengthens the role of the Care Quality Commission</li><li>develops Monitor, the body that currently regulates NHS foundation trusts, into an economic regulator to oversee aspects of access and competition in the NHS</li><li>cuts the number of health bodies to help meet the Government's commitment to cut NHS administration costs by a third, including abolishing Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities. </li></ul>