David Nicholson quits: The 'man with no shame' to retire as NHS chief executive but not for another year Chief executive of NHS England to quit £211,000 job in March 2014 Faced calls to resign in the wake of Mid-Staffs scandal in which up to 1,200 people needlessly died In resignation letter he admits the NHS 'can still sometimes fail patients' Tory MP Charlotte Leslie says vast pension pot is 'sickening' Resignation letter suggests it has been planned for weeks Embattled NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson who ignored widespread calls for his resignation is to retire on a gold-plated pension worth £1.9million, it emerged today. He was branded 'the man with no shame' for failing to carry the can for standards of care which led to the deaths of up to 1,200 people at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust. Campaigners and MPs today said they were "sickened" that he is to cling on to his role until March 2014, before walking away with a huge taxpayer-funded retirement pot. Sir David Nicholson was grilled by MPs over the official report into serious failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Campaigners had repeatedly called for Sir David Nicholson to resign over the Mid Staffordshire NHS scandal In a letter announcing his decision, Sir David admitted the "NHS can still sometimes fail patients" but made no apology for the Mid-Staffs scandal. Tory MP Charlotte Leslie said she was 'absolutely sickened' that Sir David was able to retire with a vast pension. It is a terrible indictment of our political system that he has not already been fired. It is an even worse indictment that in an era where we talk about accountability, he should walk away to an enormous pension, funded by the public. Sir David's pension pot was valued at £1.875million in March last year, giving him an annual pension of £110,000, according to official NHS accounts. It is a terrible indictment of our political system that he has not already been fired Tory MP Charlotte Leslie By staying on for another year he could swell its value to more than £2million. Julie Bailey, from the campaign group Cure The NHS which led the calls for the under-fire boss to resign, welcomed the 'fantastic news' that he is to go. 'This is the start of the cure for the NHS,' she said. We can start to look to the future now. He was part of the problem - not part of the solution. We now need a leader who will galvanise and inspire the front line, not bully them. Sir David was in charge of the regional health body supervising Mid-Staffs, and later head of the Department of Health, over the four-year period in which up to 1,200 are feared to have died. Julie Bailey, of Cure the NHS, said it was 'fantastic news' that Sir David was to leave the health service Ministers publicly stood by him, while quietly drawing up a plan to announce his departure. Sir David's £211,000-a-year position has been in question since a damning public inquiry revealed the dreadful treatment at the hospital between 2005 and 2009, when hundreds of patients may have died needlessly after being "routinely neglected." But while relatives of victims called for his head, Sir David insisted he was "not ashamed" of his tenure. In addition to the row over Mid-Staffs, he also faced questions about gagging orders imposed on whistleblowers and about his expenses, which totalled just under £50,000 last year. This was on top of his £211,000 salary, £20,000 bonus and around £47,000 of "benefits in kind." Until 2011, he was also given a taxpayer-funded sum of just under £60,000 to pay for a rented flat in the capital - an arrangement attacked by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude as a "relic of the past." In his letter Sir David said: "Whilst I believe we have made significant progress together under my leadership, recent events continue to show that on occasion the NHS can still sometimes fail patients, their families and carers. This continues to be a matter of profound regret to me but please know that on a daily basis I continue, and will always continue, to be inspired and moved by the passion that those who work in the NHS continue to show. 'Cure the NHS' campaigners demanded Sir David resign but he insisted he would stay on in his £200,000 job Sir David Nicholson has worked in the NHS since 1977, the same year he joined the Communist party. After working in mental health for a decade, he rose through the ranks to become chief executive of several bodies including the Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority at the time of the care scandal in which up to 1,200 people died. In 2006 he became chief executive of the whole of the National Health Service, in charge of a £90billion budget and 1.3million staff. He claimed £50,000-a-year in expenses on top of a salary of his £211,000 salary, £20,000 bonus and around £47,000 of "benefits in kind. The package was criticised at a time when his 'Nicholson Challenge' was imposing £20billion in efficiency savings on the NHS. He insisted he had to travel by first-class to do his job, but refused to explain to MPs why his expense claims included 41 first-class trips to Birmingham, where his 35-year-old wife lives with their baby daughter. He was also accused of overseeing a culture of fear within the NHS where hospitals fiddle their figures and whistleblowers are prevented from speaking out. In a three-year period under his rule a total of £14.7 million was spent on almost 600 "compromise agreements' preventing ex-employees from speaking out. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt repeatedly stood by Sir David, but eventually admitted in March that he "bears some responsibility" for the avoidable deaths at Mid Staffordshire. In his letter to the chairman of NHS England Professor Malcolm Grant, Sir David added: 'I have only ever had one ambition and that is to improve the quality of care for patients. I still passionately believe in what NHS England intends to do. My hope is that by being clear about my intentions now will give the organisation the opportunity to attract candidates of the very highest calibre so they can appoint someone who will be able to see this essential work through to its completion. Professor Grant replied: 'Thank you for your letter conveying your intention to retire as CEO of NHS England. I was sorry but not surprised to have it. Your career within the NHS over 35 years has been exceptional, and your leadership through the radical changes of the past two years has been fundamental to their success. In a statement Mr Hunt said: 'Under Sir David Nicholson's leadership, NHS waiting times have fallen, infection rates reduced, and mixed sex accommodation is at an all-time low. His job has often been incredibly complex and very difficult, and yet he has always had a reputation for staying calm, and maintaining a relentless focus on what makes a difference on the NHS frontline. I am also grateful to him for overseeing the successful setting up of NHS England and giving us an orderly period in which to select his successor. Sir David was responsible for setting the 'Nicholson Challenge' to find £20billion in efficiency savings by 2015. He also pushed through the coalition's controversial NHS reforms, scrapping primary care trusts and handing billions of pounds in health spending to GP groups. The Francis Inquiry into failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS trust found up to 1,200 people may have needlessly died as a result of poor care Rachael Maskell, health officer at the Unite union, said: 'He should have resigned earlier this year over his role in failing to tackle the abuse of patients at Mid Staffordshire, highlighted by the Francis report. Sir David will be remembered for the so-called Nicholson challenge of £20 billion in cuts which has brought the NHS to its knees, particularly in accident and emergency services. It is hoped that Sir David will not leave with a massive pay-off - as that would just be an insulting reward for failure. In a bizarre twist, the letter announcing his retirement suggests that Sir David planned his departure from the health service more than a month-and-a-half ago. Although it is dated May 21, one paragraph says: 'In getting ourselves ready for the 1 April 2013 we should...' This suggests the letter was drafted before April 1 - the day that the controversial NHS reforms were implemented. Sir David goes on to say that he has stayed in the role to oversee NHS reforms come into place.