Advertisement

Health chiefs react with dismay as Dido Harding suggested as possible candidate for NHS top job

Baroness Dido Harding chairs NHS Test and Trace - Pippa Fowles/AFP via Getty Images
Baroness Dido Harding chairs NHS Test and Trace - Pippa Fowles/AFP via Getty Images

Health leaders have reacted with dismay to suggestions that the head of the Test and Trace programme may be appointed chief executive of the NHS next year.

According to reports, Sir Simon Stevens is poised to step down as head of the health service next spring, with Baroness Dido Harding among the favourites to replace him.

It comes despite criticism of Baroness Harding's leadership of NHS Test and Trace (watch her answering questions from MPs in the video below), which has descended into crisis in recent weeks with a shortage of tests at coronavirus hotspots across the country.

Sir Simon has led the NHS since 2014, longer than any of his predecessors, and is reported to be in talks about leaving the role in the early part of next year.

If confirmed, his departure may be attributed to the Whitehall shakeup led by Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, which has already seen six top mandarins leave their jobs.

A senior NHS source told the Sunday Times: "Rumours of Simon Stevens' imminent demise have been circulating for at least two years and they haven't come true yet, so one should be cautious about being too definitive.

"However, the way that we would describe it is that these jobs tend to have a defined amount of runway and Simon seems, to most senior people in the NHS, to be on the final stretch of his particular runway.

"It would therefore not surprise us if this winter proved to be the last in his current position.”

Another Government source told the Mail on Sunday: "Simon has been doing the job since 2014, which is longer than most of his predecessors, and talks are under way about a new role in the public sector."

Both newspapers reported that Baroness Harding, a former boss of the telecoms firm TalkTalk, is thought to be the favourite to replace Sir Simon despite her controversial leadership of Test and Trace (see the graphic below for details of how the UK's testing regime breaks down) and relative lack of healthcare experience.

Corona Virus - Daily Tests
Corona Virus - Daily Tests

One senior NHS source said her appointment would be likely to be viewed with "suspicion" by healthcare bosses if confirmed.

"You can say what you like about Simon, but he's been doing the job a long time and he's well respected," the source told The Telegraph. "Dido, on the other hand, doesn't have the same type of experience,although she did chair NHS Improvement for a few years.

"And Test and Trace hasn't exactly gone swimmingly. It's not immediately apparent that she would be the best candidate for the job."

Sir Simon, 54, has been friends with Boris Johnson since he helped secure the Prime Minister's election as president of the Oxford Union.

When Sir Simon was appointed to run the NHS in 2014, David Cameron said he "knows more about NHS problems and market solutions than any man alive".

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the Government would not comment on "speculation".