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Our history

The Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) was announced in the government’s NHS Plan 2000 as a new national independent panel to advise ministers on contested major changes to NHS services. It was to be comprised of around one third doctors, nurses and other health professionals, one third patients’ and citizens’ representatives, and one third managers of health authorities and NHS trusts.

Changes to ministerial intervention powers over the reconfiguration of NHS services were introduced via the Health and Care Act 2022 and came into force on 31 January 2024. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care retained the IRP under this new process to provide independent expert advice and support effective and timely decision making.

Our responsibilities

The IRP is responsible for:

• advising the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the use of the call in power under schedule 10A of the NHS Act 2006, as amended by the Health and Care Act 2022
• gathering representations from the parties to provide formal advice to the Secretary of State about a called in reconfiguration proposal
• considering any other issues referred to the IRP by ministers as appropriate

The government expects that wherever possible disagreements are resolved locally without recourse to ministers. To assist this, the IRP also offers informal advice on reconfiguration issues to NHS organisations, local authorities and other interested parties upon request. For any given case, the IRP is able to advise on whether a request to the Secretary of State to intervene is an appropriate means of resolution.

Our funding

The IRP is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as the sponsoring department. Any income or expenditure for the IRP forms part of DHSC’s accounts.