Further Transfer of NHS England Commissioning Functions from April 2027

On March 2, 2026, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) agreed on further transfers of national commissioning responsibilities from NHS England (subject to parliamentary approval), building on functions already delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs).

From April 2027, the following NHS England commissioning functions will transfer to ICBs:

• Vaccinations, child health information services, and the majority of screening services;
• Health and justice services, including sexual assault and abuse services such as sexual assault referral centres;
• Specified specialised services, including those already delegated and a limited number of additional services deemed appropriate for ICB commissioning;
• Primary care services, including all previously delegated functions.

At the point NHS England is abolished (expected in 2027), DHSC will assume responsibility for commissioning:

• All highly specialised services and a small number of specialised services not considered suitable for delegation;
• National reimbursement of high-cost tariff-excluded devices (Specialised Services Device programme) and drugs;
• Certain components of screening services that are already commissioned on a national scale;
• All services for the armed forces community that are currently commissioned nationally.

In addition, DHSC will retain responsibility for setting national standards, including service specifications and clinical commissioning policies, to support services that are set to transfer to ICBs.

To support the expanded commissioning role of ICBs, seven Offices for Pan-ICB Commissioning (OPICs) will be established:

• OPICs will act as centres of commissioning excellence, supporting collaboration across ICBs, strengthening decision-making, ensuring patient and public involvement, and fostering partnerships across the health and care system;
• ICBs are expected to identify a host ICB for each regional OPIC by the end of April 2026, with OPICs becoming operational from April 2027.

The full details can be found here.

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