Association of Optometrists chief executive Adam Sampson has described the NHS as being at a ‘critical juncture’ following NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard’s resignation and as Secretary of State Wes Streeting leads an NHS overhaul.
Sampson emphasised the need for structural reform to shift the focus from hospital to community care and preventative health and added: ‘We look forward to working with NHS England, under interim CEO Jim Mackey, to deliver on the government’s priorities for the NHS.’
Ophthalmology provider Newmedica’s managing director Rebecca Lythe added that Mackey’s appointment presented an opportunity to review ‘unworkable proposals’ published under Pritchard, which would ‘limit patient choice and undermine efforts to cut NHS waiting lists’.
UK independent think tank, The Institute for Government, highlighted: ‘The appointment of the next NHSE CEO and DHSC permanent secretary will have an outsized influence on the success of Labour’s NHS reform plans. The health secretary can influence both those appointments, and Streeting will no doubt be thinking carefully about who is best suited to those roles.’
