NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson is to leave his £211,000- a-year position in March 2014 after six years in the role and 35 years working for the NHS; he will retire with a £1.9 million pension fund.
Sir David, who issued the Nicholson challenge to the NHS to deliver £20 billion in cuts by 2015, resisted pressure to resign as chief executive after a public inquiry found serious care failings at two hospitals in Mid Staffordshire hospital between January 2005 and March 2009.
However, health charity the King's Fund praised Sir David for his period of leadership, during which it said the NHS has delivered ‘significant improvements.'