Dido Harding ‘thinking about’ bid to lead NHS England

The Tory peer who was formally in charge of implementing the government’s widely criticised test and trace programme has revealed she is considering a bid to become the next head of NHS England.

Dido Harding said on Monday that she is “thinking about” applying to succeed Sir Simon Stevens in the role of chief executive of the health service when he steps down later this year.

“I haven’t applied for the NHS job yet and I’m thinking about what I want to do with my life,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

Pressed on whether she would consider applying, Baroness Harding said: “It means I’m thinking about it … Many people are around the country thinking about what they’ve learned and experienced in the course of the last 18 months, and I’m no different.”

Baroness Harding blamed expectations being “too high” for the perceived failure of test and trace – and admitted she regretted that Boris Johnson promised the Covid-19 system would be “world-beating”.

The baroness left her role leading NHS Test and Trace in April and has returned to her role as chair of the NHS Improvement board after a short break.

Her appointment to the head of NHS England would be highly controversial, given the heavy criticism she has faced over the test and trace system – set to cost £37bn over two years.

Defending her work, Baroness Harding said it was “important” to have set aside the sum on the system – arguing it had helped health authorities track Covid variants across the UK.

“We’re able to surge testing and tracing and vaccination where we see dangerous and potentially dangerous variants occur – that’s absolutely essential to get us all back to normal.

“In the last year every developed country in the world has been spending … very large sums of money on testing and on tracing in order to combat Covid. We all want to get back to a more normal way of life and [test and trace] is an essential ingredient in that.”

In March a report by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee found that NHS Test and Trace had failed to achieve its task of preventing the second and third national lockdowns.

The government’s Sage advisers found the system had only had a “marginal impact” on reducing transmission levels. Lord Macpherson, the former head of the Treasury civil service, said it had proved “the most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time”.

Baroness Harding claimed much of the criticism which has come her way as down to expectations being too high.

“When test and trace was set up everyone had incredibly high hopes that testing and tracing and isolating, on its own, would stop the course of the disease,” she told Woman’s Hour. “If there’s one regret I have is that those expectations were set too high.”

Asked if she wished that Boris Johnson had not promised the system would be “world-beating”, she said: “Yeah of course.”

She added: “I think all of us had a lot of hope invested in test and trace a year ago. The world has learned ... testing and tracing and isolating a part of the response. It’s not the silver bullet.”

Asked repeatedly if she felt the need to apologise for the failings of test and trace, the Tory peer refused and claimed the system had “saved lives”.

The NHS England board will oversees the selection process to replace Sir Simon Steven when he steps down at the end of July, but health secretary Matt Hancock has a veto on the role.

Responding to reports Baroness Harding was considering an application, Labour’s shadow justice secretary David Lammy said the idea was “a dangerous joke”.