| Short Title: | Health Authorities Act 1995 |
| Type: | Act |
| Year: | 1995 |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to abolish Regional Health Authorities, District Health Authorities and Family Health Services Authorities, require the establishment of Health Authorities and make provision in relation to Health Authorities and Special Health Authorities and for connected purposes. |
| Citation: | 1995 c. 17 |
| Introduced Commons: | Secretary of State for Health, Virginia Bottomley, 1994 |
| Territorial Extent: | England and Wales |
| Royal Assent: | 28 June 1995 |
| Commencement: | from 1 April 1996 |
| Status: | Current |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/17/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
The Health Authorities Act 1995 (c. 17) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the administration of the National Health Service in England and Wales.
The 1995 Act followed the introduction of an internal market within the NHS under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.[1]
The 1995 Act abolished the regional health authorities (RHAs), district health authorities (DHAs) and family health services authorities (FHSAs) established under the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 and Health Services Act 1980. The RHAs were replaced by eight regional offices of the NHS Executive, and the functions of the DHAs and FHSAs were effectively merged and taken up by new health authorities.[2]
These reforms lasted until the next major reorganisation of the NHS under the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002. The 2002 Act abolished HAs and transferred most of their responsibilities to primary care trusts. It also created a system of strategic health authorities.[3]