NHSE national director set to retire

Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, is expected to announce today that he is retiring this summer, according to The Times.

Sir Stephen, who joined in January 2018, has been telling close colleagues about his planned retirement for months, but his departure will now come shortly after that of CEO Amanda Pritchard.

Sir Stephen, who is 64, was previously medical director, and later group chief medical officer, at the Royal Free London Foundation Trust from 2006 until 2018.

His time at NHSE included overseeing the peaks of the pandemic in 2020-21, then attempts to recover. Previously, Sir Stephen led a review of clinical standards. It brought changes to some of the service’s national targets but other proposals, including overhauling A&E targets, were never implemented. 

Ms Pritchard last week announced she was stepping down as NHSE chief executive at the end of this month, with Sir Jim Mackey taking over as interim for one to two years.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting is planning a reorganisation of the centre of the NHS, which Ms Pritchard said she did not believe she was the right person to deliver.

The Health Service Journal understands Mr Streeting wants greater oversight of the running of the NHS, and the NHS’s chief executive to effectively report to the Department of Health and Social Care.

Further senior departures from NHSE are likely in coming months, as are significant job cuts across NHSE and DHSC.