THE doctor who helped set up the Oxfordshire GP-led clinical commissioning group under controversial NHS reforms has been voted off its board.

Dr Stephen Richards lost to Dr Joe McManners in a poll of county GPs to elect the group’s clinical chairman.

The Goring GP was chief executive when it was set up on April 1 under a national shake-up. This aimed to put doctors at the heart of deciding where most NHS cash goes, but he quit in October, citing the demands of the job.

The post was split between a chief executive with NHS leadership experience and a doctor taking a clinical position. This triggered a vote for the new chairman’s role and GPs backed Dr McManners, of Headington’s Manor Surgery.

At a board meeting yesterday, he thanked Dr Richards – who was not available for comment – and said of his role at the cash-strapped authority: “It is a pretty daunting situation and in other ways very exciting.”