Dido Harding
(Picture: PA)Dido Harding is considering applying to be head of NHS England, The Sunday Times reports.
According to the publication, the former head of Track and Trace has discussed the plans with health leaders and is phoning supporters to ask for help.
But she may not be a popular choice, to put it mildly. And posting on social media, many people have expressed their outrage at her potential application:
putting Dido Harding in charge of the NHS would be like putting Gavin Williamson in charge of schools!
— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@davemacladd) June 6, 2021
Sometimes “FFS” just doesn’t cover it.
— Captain Wonkish (@captainwonkish) June 6, 2021
it’s not April 1st https://t.co/a2i8cE9o9f
— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) June 6, 2021
Some people pointed out that her efforts with Track and Trace weren’t exactly brilliant:
I'm confident that Dido Harding will be able to do for the NHS what she did for Test and Trace. Hand it over entirely to private companies to deliver a completely useless service. https://t.co/bvVfyOGGbd
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) June 6, 2021
In another of the 'you couldn't make it up' event, Dido Harding has the temerity, after the disaster of Test & Trace, to put herself forward for heading the NHS. This bodes ill.https://t.co/9StYoTrth6
— Prof Elaine Chalus (@EHChalus) June 6, 2021
Reading this morning that Dido Harding, business person and Conservative life peer, whose failed test and trace system cost £37 billion, is touted to lead the NHS. And the words of William Wallace seem appropriate:
— Paul Delaney (@coaimpaul) June 6, 2021
Incompetence is often highly regarded in governmental circles.
Amazing how some people fail upwards all the time…Dido Harding’s Test and Trace costs us £37 Billion and its effects are minimal for that cost, her tenure at Talk Talk included an incident that cost it £60 million and now she’s applying to be NHS Head??!
— Rachel Love-Howseman (@rachlove31) June 6, 2021
Indeed, a recent official report said that failures in Test and Trace contributed to a surge in the Indian variant of the virus. And despite the government setting aside £37 billion for the programme, Sage, the independent scientific advisory group, said last year that it had had “minimal impact on transmission”.
Meanwhile, Harding was the head of the network TalkTalk when it was hacked by two teenage boys in 2015, resulting in almost 157,000 customers having their personal details stolen. When she was appointed to work with Track and Trace, people questioned it given this track record.
That she has had such important roles in government while also serving as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords has also triggered controversy.
And perhaps ironically, her husband is the government’s anti-corruption champion and Conservative MP John Penrose.
If Dido Harding gets to run the NHS after spaffing £37bn on a Test & Trace that’s not fit for purpose, it’s blatant corruption and we should report it to the government’s corruption tsar who is - *checks notes* - Dido Harding’s husband. Oh. https://t.co/0YBWslvpQn
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) June 6, 2021
Great.
