Amanda Pritchard, New Head of NHS, pictured above​​​

​

Amanda Pritchard has been appointed as the new NHS Chief Executive, becoming the first woman in over 70 years to receive the top title position.

​

Officially replacing Sir Simon Stevens as the NHS England Chief Executive will be Amanda Pritchard, the former Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust.

​

Pritchard is on schedule to take over the role when Stevens steps down at the end of the week after a seven year dedication to the position, putting her as the 9th head of the NHS.

​

Becoming the first female NHS Chief Executive for England since 1948, an honour she says is significant as three quarters of the staff are female.

​

The change comes as Amanda plans to take on the responsibility of overseeing exhausting health and social care staff tired from the pandemic.

​

In a statement, she said “I have always been incredibly proud to work in the health service but never more so than over the last 18 months as nurses, doctors, therapists, paramedics, pharmacists, porters, cleaners and other staff have responded so magnificently to the Covid pandemic,”

​

Sir Simon Stevens, Former Head of NHS, pictured above​​

​

Previously, Pritchard held the role of Deputy Executive of Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust in 2006 then moved to become the first female Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in 2016.

​

With the obstacle of pandemic staff shortages facing her, she stated "there are big challenges ahead as NHS staff continue to deal with significant pressures”.

​

The lack of workers is believed to affect the hospitalisation demand later in the year with cases rising due to the growing number of variants throughout the country.

​

Fellow NHS colleagues and leaders agreed on her being the best fit for the role, with Ruth May, the Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England, saying “Congratulations to Amanda on this huge achievement.”

​

“Amanda is an incredible advocate for quality health and care and I am so pleased to hear she will be taking up the position of NHS chief executive.”

​

As he steps down, Simon Stevens gave advice to his successor, saying they “should continue to make the weather on some of the big debates the health service needs to be a part of”.

​