The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the secretary of state for health and social care with three ministers of state and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state. The department develops policies and guidelines to improve the quality of care and to meet patient expectations. It carries out some of its work through arms-length bodies (ALBs), including executive non-departmental public bodies such as NHS England and the NHS Digital, and executive agencies such as the UK Health Security Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The DHSC also manages the work of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The expenditure, administration and policy of the department are scrutinised by the Health and Social Care Select Committee. According to David Nicholson it's attractive to politicians because "Its the largest toy train set in Europe."
