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NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard resigned on Tuesday as the government signalled its intent to tighten Whitehall control over the struggling health service.
Announcing her departure, NHS England said her interim replacement Sir James Mackey would be given “a remit to radically reshape” the relationship between the health service and the government.
Health secretary Wes Streeting on Tuesday said Mackey had “agreed to step up to provide new leadership for a new era for the NHS”, adding ministers “require a new relationship” with the health service.
Mackey “knows the NHS inside out, can see how it needs to change, and will work with the speed and urgency we need”, he added.
The Financial Times has previously reported that the Labour government will seek to bring the senior leadership of NHS England, the body that runs the health service in England, into central government.
In a statement on Tuesday, Pritchard said it had been a “hugely difficult decision for me to stand down”.
She 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 decision follows criticism from MPs in recent weeks over her leadership of the health service, which the government have pledged to radically reform.
A government official said she “chose to resign and it was all very amicable”.
Pritchard, a veteran of the health service, had held the role since 2021. Her departure was first reported by the Guardian.