In the UK, there are many agencies, bodies and initiatives associated with making decisions around healthcare. Their role, capacity and place in the decision-making landscape is not always clear and while some have a statutory capacity, others act in a more advisory or facilitatory role. In this report, we identify all structures in the UK who have a remit for making decisions. We undertook searches for published and unpublished reports, hand search organisational websites and consulted with experts. Structures were excluded if they were not in the UK, had no remit to make decisions about healthcare at a national level, if they were a funding agency, education provider, membership regulator or representation organisation. Data on each structure such as its name, website and information was extracted. Structures were then categorised into one or more categories including advisory/leadership, certification/appraisal, health delivery and accelerator. Of the 118 structures initially found, 32 were included. Those with the widest remits are the relevant Government departments. These also acted as the parent department for the publicly funded healthcare system in each devolved nation such as NHS England. Structures with certification/appraisal competencies had distinct geographical jurisdiction but do interact. Although England and Wales had accelerators, there was no equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland. In conclusion, there is a wide variety of structures with a remit to make decisions about healthcare in the UK, and the landscape is continually changing. The structures are heterogenous with diverse remits. Having an overview of the structures involved in making healthcare decisions will help to inform the Innovation Observatory’s strategic priority setting.
