Health Secretary Sajid Javid continued what he has called a "Road to Recovery" tour by visiting the Newcastle offices of the NHS Business Services Authority.
Mr Javid spoke with executives at the NHS body - which provides support services to healthcare organisations around the country about projects it is working on.
The Government minister then continued his whistle-stop tour of the country by visiting Billingham in Teesside - where he called on tennis player Novak Djokovic to revisit his refusal to get a Covid-19 vaccine.
Go here for the latest coronavirus updates and breaking Covid-19 news
During his visit in Newcastle, Mr Javid was shown how NHS BSA has worked on initiatives such as the NHS Healthy Start scheme and the UK Global Health Insurance Card.
Mr Javid said: "It was excellent to start my second day of my Road to Recovery Tour visiting NHSBSA in Newcastle.
"Across the organisation, 3,500 staff give valuable support to the NHS and wider health and care system – helping to improve patient safety and outcomes.
"It was great to hear more about NHSBSA’s work on the UK Global Health Insurance Card and how the organisation is contributing to our mission to level up the health of the nation through schemes such as the NHS Healthy Start.”
Michael Brodie, chief executive of NHSBSA added: "We are absolutely delighted to have the Secretary of State visit us here in the North East. It was a brilliant opportunity to show him some of our latest projects and see his enthusiasm for our work.
"It was great to hear his praise of us as an organisation and the work that we are doing for the wider NHS to improve patient outcomes, safety, and taxpayer value."
The NHS Healthy Start scheme provides financial support to some families to buy food and milk if someone is either 10 or more weeks pregnant or has a child under four and receives certain benefits.
If you qualify, those pregnant receive £4.25 a week, then from when a child is born until they are one you can get £8.50 a week. The prepaid card scheme then reverts back to £4.25 when a child is between one and four.
The UK Global Health Insurance Card replaces the European Health Insurance Cards which were available before Brexit.
Later, on his visit to Teesside, Mr Javid was asked about the interview in which world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic denies being an anti-vaxxer but said he would be willing to forgo playing at Grand Slam events to avoid getting a jab.
The Health Secretary told the BBC: "The reason that you can have once again millions of spectators for sports, including tennis, whether it's in Australia or in the future Wimbledon, is because of the success of vaccination programmes.
"And it's interesting to note that Mr Djokovic thinks it's OK for sport spectators, all his fans, to take the vaccine that allows him to get back to play the sport in front of them and earn millions again, it's OK for him to have them take the vaccine, but the vaccine is not OK for him. I think he should reflect on his decision."
Djokovic was deported from Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open last month amid concerns over his vaccine status. The Serbian ace told the BBC he was "never against vaccination", but insisted: "I've always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body."
Mr Javid's tour of the UK comes as he has spoken of tackling huge backlogs on NHS waiting lists.
Earlier this week he said: "We must tackle the backlog of people waiting for treatment, bring NHS and social care services closer together and deal with the stark inequalities and level up the health of the nation."
But opposition figures including Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting have, citing more than 90,000 people waiting for treatment in Newcastle alone, blamed "Tory mismanagement" for the backlogs.
Mr Streeting said: "The NHS went into the pandemic with record waiting lists and staff shortages of 100,000. It’s not just that the Tories didn’t fix the roof when the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and removed the floorboards."
