NHS England chief under fire again as MPs ‘exasperated’ by responses
NHS England chief under fire again as MPs ‘exasperated’ by responses
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Health committee criticises Amanda Pritchard’s evidence after scathing report from another Commons committee. The head of the NHS in England is under fresh fire after a second influential group of MPs in barely 12 hours accused her of lacking the “drive and dynamism” to radically reform the service.
The cross-party Commons health and social care committee criticised Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, after taking detailed evidence from her on Wednesday morning. In an unusual move, the health committee issued a statement about Pritchard’s performance, during which MPs were left “exasperated” and visibly frustrated by the vague and rambling answers she and two senior colleagues gave.
“Following today’s report by the public accounts committee, this morning’s evidence session was an opportunity for NHS leadership to prove their drive and dynamism,” said Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the committee. “Regrettably, we were left disappointed and frustrated. We had hoped for a sharpness in witnesses’ responses but were exasperated by the lengthy and diffuse answers that were given to us and will be writing to them to seek the clarity that we expected to hear in the evidence session.”.
The statement came hours after MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC) published a scathing report that aired their serious doubts about Pritchard’s ability to lead the transformation of the health service that ministers have pledged to drive through.
