Lansley denies plan to create “super quango” to control the NHS

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has denied allegations that the NHS Commissioning Board could be reshaped as a new “super quango” with greater central power over local commissioners.

MPs on the parliamentary health select committee quizzing Mr Lansley on 5 July asked about an as yet unpublished Department of Health document leaked to the Health Service Journal about a proposal to rename the NHS Commissioning Board as NHS England, suggesting its power would encompass much more than commissioning and overseeing the new clinical commissioning groups.

The evidence session was held as part of an inquiry into the NHS Future Forum—the independent body set up by the government to review the planned …