THE head of a Government quango last night came out fighting in a row over appointments to two North-East health trusts.

Dr Roger Moore, chief executive of the NHS Appointments Commission, stepped in to defend colleague Dr John Marshall, who has been accused of "cronyism".

The row is centred on the appointments of Angela Ballatti to the hot seat at North Durham Healthcare Trust and Sandy Anderson, who takes over at South Durham.

Both are former workmates of Dr Marshall, who acts as regional commissioner for the North-East region.

Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones claimed the appointments replace "Tony's cronies with Marshall's mates".

Last night, Dr Moore said the "right and proper" procedures had been followed in the appointments process.

This included an independent assessor approved by the Commissioner for Public Appointments sitting in on the interviews and being able to ask questions.

It had also been made clear from the start that Dr Marshall knew Mrs Ballatti and Mr Anderson.

Dr Moore said he sympathised with Kevin Earley who had been removed as the head of North Durham NHS Trust and has also been critical of the new appointments.

But he disagreed with suggestions that the choices were flawed or that the appointments process had not been followed.

He said: "It often happens when people are going for jobs that they are known to the interview panel.

"John Marshall stated to the panel members that he knew of these people and it was no secret.

"He has been involved in industry for 40 years and it is not a total surprise that he has connections in the same fields as the appointments."

Dr Marshall has worked with Mrs Ballatti at the Durham University Business School and Mr Anderson at ICI on Teesside.

The NHS Appointments Commission was established in April by Health Secretary Alan Milburn to replace the system of appointments based on recommendations from Government ministers.

Previously such appointments were subject to claims of political cronyism within the NHS