Former TSB chair brought in to oversee shake-up of NHS England

Richard Meddings, the former chair of TSB who overhauled the bank’s IT systems and improved its customer relations, has been picked to oversee a similar shake-up of the NHS.

Sajid Javid, UK health secretary, has turned to Meddings to be the new chair of NHS England, with a brief to drive reforms and to ensure “accountability” for the way taxpayers’ money is being used.

“We think that bringing in this outsider’s eye will help deliver the accountability that’s needed as we drive through reforms,” said one close colleague of Javid on Thursday.

Meddings’ nomination will be welcomed in the Treasury, which is determined that an extra £12bn investment into NHS and social care — funded by a rise in national insurance — will produce results.

Javid’s allies say he was impressed by Meddings’ role at TSB, where he helped to clear up a corporate mess caused by major IT problems at the bank and the resulting slump in customer satisfaction.

The bank now runs its own IT system and has improved its customer service ranking. Meddings became TSB chair in February 2018 and served as executive chair on an interim basis for almost eight months.

Meddings’ nomination will now be subject to scrutiny by the House of Commons health committee, which will produce a written recommendation, but it does not have veto powers over the appointment. News of his nomination was first reported by the Daily Telegraph.

Javid wants to see a “digital transformation” of the NHS, which still uses a great deal of paperwork, along with greater efficiency and accountability to the public for the way money is spent.

The appointment of a private sector chair was seen by Javid as essential to complement the choice in August of Amanda Pritchard, a health service “lifer”, as NHS England’s chief executive.

Rishi Sunak, chancellor, approved the £12bn annual cash injection into the NHS and social care only on the guarantee from Javid that it would be accompanied by significant reform of the health service.

The nightmare for Sunak — and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who reluctantly sanctioned the tax rise to fund the extra spending — is that people are hit with a higher tax bill in April but see no noticeable improvement in the NHS.

Debbie Crosbie, who was appointed chief executive at TSB by Meddings and became chief executive at Nationwide earlier this month, said Meddings had “a real passion for doing the right things for society” and would be a strong fit for the role.

“He’s a great combination between someone with really fantastic experience over many, many years and who knows how to roll his sleeves up and get in beneath a large operation,” she added.