The term "Nicholson challenge" refers to a set of mandates that the former (2006-2012) leader of the National Health Service in England, Sir David Nicholson, has put forth to the entirety of the NHS in a drive to find "efficiency savings" amidst a UK economy in upheaval.
The parameters of the "challenge" by Nicholson to the NHS collectively add up to a demand by Nicholson for the NHS to find £20 billion in "efficiency savings" by 2015. The claim is that better ways of working rather than more spending must be found, amidst a warning that if the challenge were not met, either more money would be needed or fewer desirable results would be achieved.[citation needed]
The Health and Social Care Bill 2011's provisions, which greatly alter the fundamentals of NHS functioning (not just financing), is technically not a part of this "challenge" at all, but is happening separately. The Nicholson challenge keeps NHS law and regulations as they have been prior to the Health And Social Care Bill's passage, but asks staff and administrators to find these "savings" within those present parameters nevertheless.