NHS chief to step down days after boss's resignation
The most senior doctor in the NHS is to step down just days after the chief executive announced her resignation.
Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England's national medical director, will leave the job this summer, adding to the void at the top of the health service.
It comes a week after Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, said she would quit following meetings with Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, who has made it clear that he wants greater control of the health service's operations.
Prof Powis, 64, handed in his resignation to Ms Pritchard in January and will continue in the role until the start of July, when he is expected to retire.
It is understood that the decision had been many months in the making and comes separately from Ms Pritchard's surprise decision to leave the top NHS job last week.
Prof Powis has been the NHS's top doctor for almost eight years and became one of the key public figures during the Covid-19 pandemic as he attended dozens of Downing Street press conferences alongside Sir Chris Whitty, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
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