Hypothesis rife on who would be the subsequent NHS CIO

On the Tech UK London Well being and Social Care Business Dinner final evening hypothesis was rife on who shall be named the following nationwide NHS chief info officer (CIO).

With a job advert revealed earlier this week, the favorite discuss amongst trade insiders was who will be the individual to fill the seat about to be vacated by Simon Bolton, interim CIO at NHS Digital, who had been as a result of develop into interim CIO at NHS England.

Bolton was on the dinner, however didn’t converse.  Nonetheless the opposite nationwide NHS CIO, Sonia Patel, did for the second 12 months in a row. Patel joked that in contrast to her former NHS boss, Matthew Gould, now CEO of London Zoo, “I’m not planning to go to the zoo or jungle any time quickly”.

An indication maybe that Patel, who was first recruited in 2020 to be nationwide CIO, earlier than being unceremoniously moved sideways right into a vaguer system CIO function when Bolton was appointed, retains her urge for food and ambition for the function?

One college of thought held that Dr Tim Ferris, director of digital transformation at NHS England, could look exterior the NHS for the following NHS CIO.  Apparently, the job advert doesn’t stipulate that any well being expertise is critical.

Maybe somebody from exterior the NHS, however near well being: or from an enormous US well being system, or possibly from the life sciences or pharma sectors?

One other college of thought speculates that Amanda Pritchard, CEO of NHS England, and NHS profession insider, would favor one of many organisation’s personal with in-depth NHS expertise to regular the ship and carry the dressing room.

Names speculated within the ‘NHS personal camp’ past Patel included the massively skilled Luke Readman, digital lead for NHS England’s London area, with an extended profession spanning IT management roles on the Wirral, Barts and London.

One other title instructed as a robust contender was the highly-regarded David Walliker, chief digital info officer (CDIO) at Oxford College Hospitals NHS Basis Belief.

Lisa Emery, just lately moved as CIO to Sussex Built-in Care Board (ICB) from the Royal Marsden and chair of each the London CIO Council and CIO Community, was additionally instructed, as was Andy Kinnear, previously CIO of South, Central and West CSU and a previous chair of BCS Well being and Care.

One additional set of names speculated had been the opposite candidates who made the short-list of NHS heavyweight CIOs when Patel was appointed in 2020.

Digital Well being Information understands that these included Paul Rice, now CIO at Bradford and Airedale, Richard Corbridge, former CIO at Leeds and now CIO at Boots; and Rachel Dunscombe, former CIO at Salford and CEO of NHS Digital Academy.

The recruitment is open on-line here with a deadline for functions of 15 January 2023.