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NHS England launches hunt for ‘CI&TO’ to replace Kelsey
NHS England seeks chief information and technology officer to take over from director for patients and information Tim Kelsey, who left late last year
NHS England is seeking to recuit a chief information and technology officer (CI&TO) to replace its national director for patients and information, Tim Kelsey, who left in December to take up a new role in Australia.
The new CI&TO will be charged with taking forward the NHS technology agenda, which has been driven by Kelsey, including projects such as patient access to online medical records, a paperless NHS and the controversial Care.data.
NHS England is using recruitment consultant Odgers Berndtson to help find the right candidate, and the job advert states that the role will be to lead the “strategic procurement and successful implementation of the information and technology priorities that will support a modern, sustainable health and care system”.
NHS England aims to fill the position by this summer and the CI&TO will be expected to work with organisations such as the Department of Health, the Health and Social Care Information Centre and NHS Improvement.
“The CI&TO will ensure that the benefits of information and technology investments in nationally funded programmes are realised, support local health and care systems to digitally enable their planning, commissioning and care delivery, and transform public access to information tools and services,” the job advert said.
“This is a visible and influential leadership position and one that will impact on the lives of millions of people. As such, it requires a truly inspirational and transformational leader who will bring a relentless focus on patients and their experience of healthcare.”
The role also involves chairing the National Information Board (NIB), which is responsible for ensuring the delivery of the paperless 2020 vision across health and social care organisations.
Read more about Tim Kelsey and a paperless NHS
- Tim Kelsey, the driving force behind the Care.data project to set up an NHS patient records database, has quit – but what does his departure mean for the troubled programme?
- All divisions of the NHS must have electronic patient records by 2020 or risk losing their licence – we talk to the man in charge to find out why.
In the interim, Public Health England CIO John Newton has stepped in to chair the NIB and said he aims to keep up the momentum Kelsey has created.
Last September, Kelsey announced he would be leaving to take up a job with Telstra Health in Australia, which in March 2015 bought UK-based health informatics company Dr Foster Intelligence, of which Kelsey was one of the co-founders.
