King Charles unveils priorities for new parliamentary session

13 May 2026

This morning, King Charles delivered the King’s Speech, which marked the State Opening of the UK Parliament. The King’s Speech is how the UK government sets out its priorities for a new parliamentary session, likely to last around a year.

The UK government has announced that new legislation for the health service will be a top priority in the UK Parliament in the coming months. The NHS Modernisation Bill will be the formal process for abolishing NHS England – which has been responsible for the strategy of the NHS in England over the last few years – and moving responsibility for its work into the Department of Health and Social Care. This has already been announced as government policy, alongside other reforms, including: 

• Creating a ‘single patient record’ – where all of a patient’s medical records will be stored in one place 

• Abolishing the independent body Healthwatch 

• Moving responsibilities for various other regulatory bodies 

Other announcements in the King’s Speech included plans for a new Energy Independence Bill, which will in part aimed at tackling rising energy bills. We will be analysing this as the government shares more detail in the coming weeks and months.  

Contrary to reports, no further reforms to the benefits system were announced at this stage. 

In response to the King’s Speech, Joe Lee-Dowd, our Policy and Public Affairs Manager, said: 

“The NHS Modernisation Bill announced in the King’s Speech today marks a major shift in the way crucial NHS functions are delivered. As the government brings forward this new legislation, reform of the NHS must keep patients at its heart. Reorganisation mustn’t shift attention away from the improvements that matter to people living with muscle wasting conditions. 

For example, neurology services already have some of the longest waiting lists across the whole health service. Bringing waiting lists down, better access to specialist care and more universal access to vital services – all are top priorities for our community. It’s important that these reforms help rather than disrupt efforts to achieve them. 

We look forward to working with partners, MPs and the UK government on the details on this Bill as it makes its way through Parliament.”