The Royal Commission on the National Health Service was set up by the Wilson government in 1975. It was to consider the "best use and management of the financial and manpower resources of the NHS".
The Royal Commission reported in June 1979, by which time the government had changed. It recommended, among other things, that the administration of the Health Service should be simplified by eliminating, in most cases, a tier of management, a recommendation which appealed to Patrick Jenkin the new Secretary of State.[1] Area Health Authorities were abolished in 1982.
The idea that responsibility for the delivery of health services should be transferred from the Department of Health and Social Security to the Regional Health Authorities was less welcome.[2]
The members were:
