Dr Dash's comments came amid reports the Government is seeking to take increasing control of NHSE and is planning thousands of job cuts following the resignation of chief executive Amanda Pritchard yesterday.

When asked how she will ensure NHS England maintains its operational and clinical independence, Dr Dash said: ‘I wouldn't describe myself as a mouthpiece for someone else.

‘I am a strong person. I have lots of thoughts. I have lots of ideas. I am very well networked in the system. I go back to data, data, data.'

Dr Dash has been nominated to replace Conservative appointed chair Richard Meddings and comes with the reputation of a radical reformer.

When questioned about how much the relationship between the DHSC and NHSE would change under her chairmanship, Dr Dash said: ‘The secretary of state has gone on record saying he doesn't want to do a major restructuring in terms of changing legislation and so forth.

‘What I do think is needed is to be very clear on what are the functions needed from the centre. I do think this needs to be built from the bottom up. We need to help local systems not to tell local systems.

‘Clearly there are things that the department does that NHS England does not do. There's lots that NHS England does the department doesn't do and some are differential roles. There are also some areas that do work very closely together.'

Dr Dash also acknowledged she had found ‘tiny' levels of duplication between the department and NHSE.