The NHS boss has condemned “racist, sexist and violent” comments from Frank Hester, the healthcare entrepreneur and Conservative donor.
Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, made clear her shock at Hester’s comments about former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott during a briefing to senior health leaders.
In her weekly “care leadership update”, which she sent on Monday, Pritchard said she shared the “shock and disgust” that many people in the NHS had expressed after reading Hester’s comments last week.
The Guardian revealed last week that Hester, whose company the Phoenix Partnership (TPP) is a major NHS supplier, said at a meeting in 2019 that seeing Abbott on TV made “you want to hate all black women” and that it long-serving MP “should be shot”. Hester later apologized for the comments, but denied they were motivated by race or gender.
TPP has received more than £400 million in contracts from the NHS and other government agencies since 2016. It also manages the software for more than 60 million patient records in the UK.
In her circular, after discussing other issues, Pritchard said: “I would like to conclude this note with an issue that has shocked many of us over the past seven days.
“I have spoken to a number of colleagues – including at Wednesday’s NHS Assembly meeting – who have told me of their concern and disgust at the racist, sexist and violent comments allegedly made by TPP CEO Frank Hester .
“I fully share these concerns. The alleged language and behavior reported is a far cry from our NHS values. They should not be tolerated wherever they occur.”
Pritchard made the comments after spending much of the previous week under pressure from within the NHS, after the Guardian published Hester’s comments, to condemn them. There is frustration within the organization that it has not done this much sooner.
On Saturday, before Pritchard gave her briefing, a director of NHS England said she and others were deeply concerned by her “radio silence”, which lasted almost six days after the Prime Minister said late on Tuesday that Hester’s comments were “racist and racist”. goods. wrong”.
Some employees believe that leadership betrayed the values underpinning the mission to improve inclusivity and diversity by not addressing Hester earlier and more forcefully.
Illustrating the depth of feeling at NHS England’s response to Hester’s views, Chris Parsons, deputy director of partnership services, twice last week used his account on X to express concern about its inaction.
On Monday March 11, the day the story appeared, he tweeted: “Racist, misogynistic, hateful and utterly disgusting comments from a privileged, arrogant and boorish man who should have no place anywhere near the NHS and never had an OBE may receive – shame on you.”
And on March 14, after healthcare professionals expressed their disgust, Parsons tweeted again, this time criticizing NHS England’s “shameful” lack of public comment.
He said: “For the avoidance of doubt @NHSEngland and @NHSDigital this is what taking a system leadership position looks like, your silence is shameful – when are you going to publicly condemn Frank Hester’s racist, misogynistic and hateful comments.”
Pritchard denied she had been slow to act. Her regular weekly bulletin to NHS chiefs on Monday was her first opportunity to respond to Hester’s “appalling” comments, NHS England said.
An NHS spokesperson said: “We reject these claims, which are wrong and unfair. Since these appalling allegations emerged, NHS England has condemned them in multiple forums and Amanda Pritchard raised the issue unequivocally in her first weekly bulletin to staff since the allegations came to light.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said on Tuesday that he had written to Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, asking her to look at the contracts and say whether they met what the NHS told them to do and whether they were consistent . with the values of the NHS.
He told LBC: “I have to be careful I think if I go any further because if we win the general election there is every chance of things like this ending up on my desk and I don’t want to do that. anticipate future decisions.
“However, I think his behavior is absolutely abhorrent, and what has genuinely shocked me is the extent to which leading figures in the government initially tried to deny that it was racist and misogynistic.”