A district health authority was a division of the National Health Service in England and Wales. It was introduced by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973. It was created in 1974 and disestablished in 1996. There were 205 when they were established in 1974, but some were later merged. In 1979 there were 199.
The district health authority worked alongside a Family Health Services Authority, which was responsible for managing primary care services such as general practice, pharmacy and dentistry. The districts were reorganised on a number of occasions in the 1990s. In 1996 new single-tier health authorities replaced districts and areas and the regions were again reorganised. In 2002, Health Authorities were replaced by Primary Care Trusts.
