England
NHS England, Integrated Care Boards, NHS trusts and foundation trusts, local authorities and the Care Quality Commission.
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Follow Health and Care Information Back to the Official Source
Health and social care responsibilities are split between different UK nations, government departments, NHS bodies, councils, providers, regulators and ombudsmen. This hub helps identify who is responsible and where records can be checked.
DEVOLVED HEALTH SYSTEMS
Four UK Health Systems
Healthcare is devolved. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different structures, performance publications and complaint arrangements.
Scotland
NHS Scotland services are delivered through territorial and national health boards with Scottish Government oversight.
Wales
NHS Wales operates through health boards, trusts and national organisations under Welsh Government health policy.
Northern Ireland
Health and Social Care Northern Ireland integrates health and social-care services through regional bodies and trusts.
ENGLAND
NHS Bodies, ICBs and Providers
To investigate a local NHS issue, identify the organisation responsible, then check its board papers, accounts, performance information, contracts, complaints information and regulator records.
Integrated Care Boards
NHS England's April 2026 map lists 36 Integrated Care Boards in England. ICBs plan NHS services and hold responsibilities for local commissioning and system oversight.
NHS Trusts & Providers
Trusts and foundation trusts provide hospital, community, mental-health, ambulance and specialist services. Their public records can include annual reports, accounts, board papers and quality information.
Department of Health & Social Care
DHSC sets health and adult-social-care policy in England and publishes departmental reports, accounts, research, consultations and statistics.
PERFORMANCE & PUBLIC DATA
Check Performance, Waiting Lists and Outcomes
National figures are useful, but local performance can differ. Check national publications alongside the relevant ICB, trust, council or provider records.
NHS Statistics
NHS England publishes statistics and operational information including waiting-list and performance material.
Office for National Statistics
ONS publishes health, population and mortality datasets that can provide broader context alongside service-level information.
Adult Social Care Statistics
Use DHSC's provider and client-level collections for current official data and methodology notes rather than relying on isolated figures.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Budgets, Accounts, Spending and Contracts
Public accountability includes understanding how health and social-care bodies are funded, what they spend and which organisations receive public contracts.
DHSC Reports & Accounts
Departmental annual reports and accounts explain how DHSC has used its resources and funded activities.
NHS Body Accounts
ICBs and NHS providers publish annual reports, audited accounts and board papers. Search the body's own website and Companies House only where relevant to the legal entity involved.
Contracts & Procurement
Contracts Finder and Find a Tender can help identify public procurement notices and awarded contracts where publication rules apply.
REGULATION & OVERSIGHT
Who Checks Health and Social Care?
Different bodies oversee quality, professional standards, medicines, data protection, public administration and local-authority social care.
Care Quality Commission
Regulates health and adult social-care services in England and publishes inspection and regulatory information.
Professional Regulators
Doctors, nurses, social workers and other regulated professions have separate statutory regulators. Use the correct regulator for the profession involved.
Information Commissioner
The ICO regulates data-protection and information-rights law, including concerns about health records, subject access and FOI where applicable.
COMPLAINTS & ACCOUNTABILITY
Use the Route That Matches the Service
A complaint about NHS care, a council social-care decision, a regulated provider, professional conduct or data handling may need different routes.
NHS Complaints — England
Use the NHS complaints route for concerns about NHS services. Keep records and check any time limits that apply to the complaint.
Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman
PHSO considers eligible complaints about the NHS in England after the appropriate local complaint process.
Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
LGSCO considers eligible complaints about councils and certain adult social-care providers in England after local complaint routes.
CQC — Tell Us About Care
CQC uses information about people's experiences to inform regulation. It does not normally resolve an individual's complaint in the same way as an ombudsman.
Data & Records
For your own health or care records, use the appropriate subject-access route. FOI is for recorded information held by public authorities and is a different right.
Safeguarding
Immediate danger should be dealt with through emergency services. Safeguarding concerns should be raised through the relevant council, NHS or statutory safeguarding route rather than waiting for an ordinary complaint.
PATIENT SAFETY & WORKFORCE
Patient Safety & NHS Workforce Transparency
Follow official evidence, patient-safety findings, workforce decisions, regulation, spending, the Leng Review, GMC reform, coroners’ reports and actions by the bodies responsible for NHS oversight.
Patient Safety & Workforce Transparency
A dedicated RFTUK transparency page bringing together verified official evidence about workforce roles, supervision, patient identification, patient-safety reporting, costs, official meetings, government and NHS actions, and unresolved transparency questions.
Evidence-led tracking
The page separates confirmed official evidence from professional-body concerns, reported cases and matters that still require verification. Primary sources are linked so readers can check the underlying record.
TRANSPARENCY CHECKLIST
What to Look for on Every Health or Care Body
These records help build a clearer picture of responsibility, performance, spending and accountability.
Leadership and governance: board members, executives, committees and declarations of interests.
Board records: meeting dates, agendas, public papers, minutes and decisions.
Money: annual report, audited accounts, budgets, procurement and contracts.
Performance: waiting lists, access measures, outcomes, service standards and local dashboards.
Quality and safety: inspection reports, quality accounts, patient safety and safeguarding information.
Complaints: complaint policy, annual complaint data, learning and ombudsman findings where published.
Workforce: staffing, vacancies, sickness, senior pay and workforce plans where available.
Equality and access: equality duties, health inequalities, accessibility and reasonable adjustments.
Information rights: FOI publication scheme, disclosure log and contact details for information requests.
Public involvement: consultations, engagement, patient/public participation and published responses.
Important: a regulator, ombudsman and complaints team do different jobs. Check the body’s remit before sending evidence so that a complaint, regulatory concern, professional-conduct issue or information-rights request goes to the correct route.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
Current Sources Used for This Hub
The links below go to official or statutory sources so readers can check the underlying information directly.
Department of Health & Social Care
Government department responsible for health and adult-social-care policy in England.
Open DHSCNHS England
National NHS information, publications, statistics and system information for England.
Open NHS EnglandAdult Social Care Provider Statistics
Quarterly DHSC official statistics on adult social-care settings and people receiving services.
Open statisticsAdult Social Care Client-Level Data
Quarterly statistics covering local-authority arranged or provided long-term support and assessments.
Open dataCare Quality Commission
Independent regulator of health and adult social-care services in England.
Open CQCOmbudsman Routes
PHSO and LGSCO provide independent complaint routes within their respective jurisdictions.
Key official health and adult social-care routes checked and updated on 25 September 2026.
RFTUK EXPLANATION
Official Evidence and RFTUK Analysis Are Kept Separate
This is an independent public-information and transparency hub. It does not replace the NHS, a council, regulator, ombudsman, healthcare professional or social-care provider.
Where Right First Time UK publishes analysis or campaign material, readers should be able to identify the underlying official source and distinguish that evidence from RFTUK explanation, interpretation or campaign views.
Check the Body, Check the Record, Check the Route
Health and social-care accountability is easier to follow when you identify who is responsible, use current official data and send complaints or information requests to the body with the power to deal with them.
Local Authorities, Providers and Regulation
Social care is not one single national service. In England, councils have statutory responsibilities while many services are delivered by independent, voluntary or council-run providers.
Find Your Council
Local authorities are a key starting point for adult social care, children's services, safeguarding, assessments, care planning and local complaints.
Adult Social Care Data
DHSC publishes quarterly official statistics covering adult social-care providers and client-level information, including care-home occupancy, regulated domiciliary care, assessments and long-term support.
Care Quality Commission
CQC regulates health and adult social-care services in England. Its public information can include registration details, inspection findings, ratings and enforcement material.
Latest adult social-care provider release
DHSC's quarterly update published on 3 September 2026 reports data to August 2026. Among responding providers, it reported 355,809 care-home residents and 489,732 people receiving CQC-regulated domiciliary care for the relevant August reporting period. Response rates were not 100%, so these figures should be read with the publication's methodology and coverage notes.