BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty interrupted Thursday’s (March 6) live broadcast to share some “breaking” news.
She announced that NHS England’s medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, would be stepping down from his role after seven years. This news follows hot on the heels of last week’s announcement by NHS England’s chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, about her departure.
Co-host Charlie Stayt initiated the conversation, saying, “Naga, you have some breaking news in relation to a resignation, someone standing down.”
Naga responded, “Yes, this is interesting once I tell you the name, as well. It’s now becoming a sequence of events, let me explain. Professor Sir Stephen Powis is going to stand down as medical director of NHS England. He’s expected to say in the post until the end of the summer, but this is after seven years in the role,” before passing over to the BBC’s health editor Hugh Pym.
Hugh elaborated that Amanda Pritchard decided to leave following meetings with Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, who has expressed his desire for more control over the health service’s operations, reports the Express.
“Only last week, Amanda Pritchard announced she was standing down as chief executive of NHS England. That was a surprise that she would go at the end of this month,” Hugh added.
“That came against a backdrop of NHS England, which has been at arms length from the Department of Health and Social Care in England for more than a decade. NHS England is being moved a lot closer towards the Department of Health and under the overall oversight of the Secretary of State, Wes Streeting. We were told that was amicable.”
“We’ve learnt that Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, who became very well known during the pandemic, during those briefings at Downing Street, he will be going in the summer,” Hugh continued.
He explained the Stephen’s decision had been many months in the making and comes separately from Amanda’s decision to leave the top job at NHS England.
“NHS sources are telling me that he actually indicated that he would go privately in January this year so that the decision doesn’t follow on Amanda Pritchard’s, strictly speaking,” Hugh noted.
“But of course, it raises more questions about a bit of a vacuum at the top of NHS England as it moves towards playing a more subsidiary role under a government department. And I think that we’re going to have to wait for more details of exactly how that’s going to work out.”
Sir Stephen became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, regularly appearing at the Downing Street press conferences alongside the Prime Minister at the time, Boris Johnson. He also witnessed the delivery of the first ever Covid-19 jab outside a clinical trial.
BBC Breakfast airs daily on BBC One at 6am