Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)

Role

Responsible for NHS policy, public health, and social care. Under the Spending Review 2025, DHSC received the largest settlement of any department — a £29bn real terms increase from 2023-24 to 2028-29.

Strategies owned

• NHS 10-Year Plan (forthcoming — referenced in Spending Review but not yet published in available sources)

Outcomes accountable for

• NHS waiting times reduction: 92% of patients starting consultant-led treatment within 18 weeks by Parliament end
• NHS productivity recovery post-COVID

Key commitments

• dhsc-nhs-18-week-92pct — 92% of patients within 18 weeks by Parliament end (status: unknown — no delivery data available in wiki sources)
• dhsc-nhs-29bn-increase — £29bn real terms increase (£53bn cash) from 2023-24 to 2028-29; 3.0% average annual real terms growth

Key figures (Spending Review 2025)

• £29bn real terms increase 2023-24 to 2028-29 (largest departmental settlement)
• £53bn cash increase over same period
• 3.0% average annual real terms growth
• 5.2 million additional appointments (Budget 2025)
• 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres
• NHS capital budget: £2.3bn real terms increase by 2029-30

Relationships

• HMT: budget settlement; fiscal headroom for NHS
• NISTA: NHS infrastructure projects in GMPP
• 10yr Infrastructure Strategy: NHS hospital programme (£6bn capital)

Tensions

• NHS 18-week target has no tracking data in available sources — status marked unknown
• NHS capital investment (£6bn hospital programme) subject to same GMPP delivery risks flagged by NISTA