What is the strategic health authority (SHA)?
SHAs were created by the government in 2002 to manage the local NHS on behalf of the Department of Health. There were originally 28 SHAs, but on 1 July 2006 these were reduced to 10. SHAs are responsible for: • developing plans for improving health services in their local area. • making sure local health services are of a high quality and are performing well. • increasing the capacity of local health services – so they can provide more services. • making sure national priorities are integrated into local health service plans.
