BARONESS Dido Harding was accused today of “xenophobic dog-whistling” after vowing to end the NHS’s reliance on foreign doctors if she becomes the head of the health service. 

The former leader of the failed test-and-trace system says she wants to challenge the “prevailing orthodoxy” that it’s better to hire healthcare professionals from overseas, according to reports. 

The pledge is said to be part of her application to take over from Sir Simon Stevens as head of NHS England next month.