NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has stepped down from her role, it has been reported.

       This follows her recent meetings with health secretary Wes Streeting to discuss plans to overhaul the NHS and the chief executive role. Prichard has been in the job for three and a half years.

       She said it had been a "hugely difficult decision for me to stand down", and added: "It has been an enormous privilege to lead the NHS in England through what has undoubtedly been the most difficult period in its history."

       Sources say that her exit from the job is amicable and she has not been forced out. The official announcement is expected tomorrow afternoon (February 25), where she is due to confirm her steppign down is voluntary and done after much thoght.

       Just a month ago, two House of Commons committees questioned Pritchard's suitability to lead the NHS through what the government has said will be the service's biggest overhaul since its creation.

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       The public accounts committee said that Pritchard as well as her deputy, Julian Kelly, and two senior civil servants at the Department of Health and Social Care were “complacent” and lacked dynamism.

       Just 12 hours later, MPs on the health and social care committee spoke of their doubts about Pritchard after she gave two hours of evidence to them, during which MPs were left “exasperated” and frustrated by her answers which lacked “sharpness”.

       Pritchard will stay in post until April. James Mackey, the chief executive of the Newcastle upon Tyne hospitals NHS trust, will succeed her as interim chief executive. Senior figures in the service have said that Mackey could get the job permanently if he wanted it.

       The chief executive also spoke of her time in the job: “The NHS has achieved a great deal in the face of historic pressure thanks to a relentless focus on innovation and reform.”

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       She cited the creation of community diagnostic centres and development of cancer vaccines: “The NHS now feels very different to when I became chief executive over three and a half years ago.”

       Streeting said Pritchard “has led with integrity and unwavering commitment” and “can be enormously proud of” leading the NHS through the Covid pandemic.

       He added that Mackey would provide “new leadership for a new era for the NHS. He knows the NHS inside out, can see how it needs to change and will work with the speed and urgency we need.”

       The government's 10-year plan and start of the new financial year would be “pivotal moments on the road to reform”. He added: “We will also require a new relationship between the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England.”