NHS England Chief Amanda Pritchard to Step Down in March

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has announced she will step down from her role at the end of March, describing the decision as “hugely difficult”.

Pritchard, who was appointed in 2021, said leading NHS England had been “an enormous privilege” during what she called “the most difficult period in its history”.

Her departure coincides with the end of the financial year and ongoing scrutiny of health service leadership.

Scrutiny Over NHS Finances and Reform

In January, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee criticised senior leaders at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), accusing them of “complacency” in financial management and health service reform.

Last month, MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee expressed frustration after questioning Pritchard, NHS England’s chief financial officer Julian Kelly, and Chief Nursing Officer for England Duncan Burton. They described their responses on productivity, digital transformation, capital spending, workforce, and winter pressures as “lengthy and diffuse”.

In a letter to Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, Pritchard said “radical reform of the size and functions of NHS England and the DHSC” was needed to support government priorities. She wrote that the “step change” required “would be best served by new leadership”.

Streeting praised Pritchard’s leadership, saying she should be “enormously proud” of her work. He also acknowledged that the next financial year and the government’s upcoming 10-Year Health Plan would require a “new relationship” between NHS England and the DHSC.

Successor Announced

Sir James Mackey, chief executive of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England’s national director of elective recovery, will take over as chief executive from April. 

Mackey, a former chief executive of NHS Improvement, said it would be “an honour to lead the service through the next phase as we radically reshape the role of NHS England and work with the Government to build an NHS that is fit for the future through the 10 Year Health Plan”.

“Huge Loss”

Pritchard began her NHS career as a graduate management trainee in 1997 after studying at the University of Oxford. Before joining NHS England in 2019, she was chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. She also served as health team leader in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit under Tony Blair.

Richard Meddings, chair of NHS England, called her departure a “huge loss”. “Under her leadership, the NHS has delivered a huge amount for patients – in the face of pandemic recovery, unprecedented strikes and consecutive even busier winter periods, the NHS has continued to improve performance, reform and innovate,” he said in a press release.

Interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said Pritchard was “an inspirational leader” who had helped “steer the NHS through some of the most difficult days in its history”.

Peter Russell has been a journalist for 40 years covering international news, health, medicine, and national politics on radio, TV, and online. He is based in the UK.