NHS England chief executive, Amanda Prichard, has resigned in a surprise move after recent meetings with Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Sources say her departure is amicable and she has not been forced to step down.
Her resignation will be officially confirmed later on this afternoon.
Amanda Pritchard said it had been a “hugely difficult decision for me to stand down”, and added: “It has been an enormous privilege to lead the NHS in England through what has undoubtedly been the most difficult period in its history.”
Her resignation will be officially confirmed on Tuesday afternoon
PA
Pritchard stressed the NHS’s record of delivering changes that had improved patient care since she took charge in 2021.
She added: “The NHS has achieved a great deal in the face of historic pressure thanks to a relentless focus on innovation and reform.
“The NHS now feels very different to when I became chief executive over three and a half years ago.”
This comes as recent meetings were held between Prichard and Streeting to discuss plans to overhaul the service and her future role.
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Streeting said Prichard should be “enormously proud” of her role in leading the NHS
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This was less than a month after two House of Commons committees criticised her ability to lead the NHS through a period Streeting and PM Sir Keir Starmer have said will be the biggest overhaul in the service’s history.
MPs on the public accounts committee said that she, deputy Julian Kelly, and two senior civil servants at the Department of Health and Social Care were “complacent” and lacked dynamism.
Only hours later, the health and social care committee publicly expressed their doubts shortly after she had given two hours of evidence to them.
They claimed a lack of “sharpness” in her answers had left committee members “exasperated,” adding that she had not showed the “drive and dynamism” needed to transform the NHS.
Senior figures expect Mackey would keep the job permanently if he wanted it
GOV.UK
Prichard will stay in the post until April, until James Mackey, chief executive of the Newcastle upon Tyne hospitals NHS trust will take over as interim chief executive.
Senior figures expect Mackey would keep the job permanently if he wanted it.
Streeting said Prichard should be “enormously proud” of her role in leading the NHS through much of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that she had “led with integrity and unwavering commitment”.
Of Mackey, he said the incoming interim chief executive would offer “new leadership for a new era for the NHS.
He knows the NHS inside out, can see how it needs to change and will work with the speed and urgency we need.”