Nick Ferrari asks Matt Hancock why Dido Harding is in charge of new health body
19 August 2020, 08:32 | Updated: 19 August 2020, 08:50
Nick Ferrari asks Matt Hancock why Dido Harding is in charge of new health body
Nick Ferrari asked Matt Hancock why he has put Dido Harding in charge of everyone's health, despite her poor track record.
Baroness Harding is the new interim chief of the National Institute for Health Protection, the body created by the government to oversee the country's response to pandemics and other health issues.
But Nick pointed out her track record to date is not something to be proud of.
Nick asked: "I note that the interim chair is going to be Baroness Harding, so of course has been in charge of Test & Trace, where we've seen that 10,000 outsourced staff have managed to speak to an average of two people each.
"She was also in charge of TalkTalk at a time when it was fined £400,000 for a data breach and also when it won a wooden spoon award for the Worst Customer Performance two year's running.
"And she's on the board of the Jockey Club, which allowed the Cheltenham Festival to disastrously go ahead in March.
"Why are you trusting her with mine and my children's health?"
Mr Hancock insisted: "The leadership that we need will be provided by Dido Harding.
"Anybody with enormous experience like Dido Harding will have faced challenges in their professional career.
"Having someone with enormous experience, both in running very large organisations in the public sector and as the chair of the board of NHS Improvement with huge experience in health, she has what it takes to lead this organisation.
"The key thing now is to get it set up and to ensure there is a seamless impact on the coronavirus response, that that is strengthened and her leadership will be key to that."
The Health Secretary also insisted she has been successful in her role at the Test & Trace scheme.
Watch the interview at the top of the page.
