New Network chairs and vice chairs voted in

The new chairs and vice chairs of the Chief Clinical Information Officer, Chief Information Officer and Chief Nursing Information Officer Network Advisory Panels have been selected in by the newly popularly elected advisory panels.

The new chairs will represent and lead their respective networks over the next two years, 2023-25, ensuring that the priorities and concerns of local NHS IT leaders are communicated to and heard by national policy leaders.

The three networks have also committed to placing mentorship as a key priority with new panel members providing mentorship to up and coming leaders.

Dermot O’Riordan, chief medical information officer from East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust is the new CCIO chair; Paul Jones, chief digital information officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the new CIO chair; and Simon Noel, CNIO at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the new CNIO chair.

The three chairs will be supported by an exceptionally strong line-up of vice chairs.

The CCIO vice chairs are Dr Penny Kechagioglou, CCIO and deputy chief medical officer at the University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust; Dr Bishoy Dimitri, director of clinical informatics at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and Dr Jenny Cross, consultant nephrologist, group CCIO and interim medical director at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

The CIO vice chairs are Debbie Loke, CIO and director of digital at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust; and Abigail Harrison, CIO North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Both are known to the Networks having previously been speakers at Summer Schools and Rewired 2023, respectively.

The CNIO vice chairs are Hayley Grafton, CNIO at Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Stacey Hatton, CNIO at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust.

The selection follows the election of new panels by members of Digital Health Networks in an online election that began in May. The winners of the elections were announced earlier this month.

The newly elected advisory panel members will be officially introduced to fellow network members at Digital Health Summer Schools, 27-28 July, University of Birmingham, which is this year celebrating its tenth anniversary.

Jon Hoeksma, CEO Digital Health, the convenors of Digital Health Networks, said: “It is really exciting to have such a great team of talents elected first to the new advisory panels and now to the chairs and vice chairs. The team at Digital Health really look forward to working with everyone elected.”