Commissioning board chair could work just four days a month

The original specification, which was withdrawn due to the “pause”, suggested the chair  would need to work between two and three days a week in return for up to £63,000 a year.

However, the information pack released alongside the latest job application, which appeared in the Sunday Times yesterday, sets out a time commitment of two days a week during the first few months, falling to between four and six days a month “in due course”. The remuneration level remains the same.

Appropriate candidates could come from “the commercial sector, academia, the voluntary sector or the wider public sector, including local government”, the document states.

It states that “some understanding of health issues would be useful, but direct experience of the NHS is not required.

The previous document asked for candidates “confident in the Whitehall environment” and “familiar with the main challenges in health services”, suggesting the DH is prepapred to look more widely for a suitable candidate.

NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has already been announced as the board’s chief executive and senior NHS leaders are expected to fill many of the top executive posts on the commissioning board.

However, it is less clear who may be interested in the role of chair. The person specification asks for someone who is committed to the values of the NHS as outlined in the NHS constitution - and the government’s modernisation agenda.

Former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn previously turned down an invitation from health secretary Andrew Lansley to apply for the post while Lord Ara Darzi, who had been tipped as a potential candidate, is listed as being on the selection panel for the post.

Interviews are being planned for the week beginning 6 October with a start date of 31 October.