The former head of NHS Test and Trace Baroness Dido Harding has applied to become the next head of the NHS.
The NHS England website says: “Dido has applied to become the next CEO of the NHS and has therefore stood aside as chair of NHS Improvement whilst the recruitment process takes place. Sir Andrew Morris is standing in for her during this time.”
The Tory peer was executive chairwoman of the government’s coronavirus Test and Trace programme until April this year.
A report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee in March said there was “no clear evidence” the £22bn venture contributed to a reduction in coronavirus infection levels.
But Harding responded to the criticism by pointing out that it had been built from scratch and had been doing more tests than any other comparable country.
The system had made a “real impact in breaking the chains of transmission” she said in March.
Current NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens is standing down at the end of July.
