Exclusive: NHSE national CCIO and CNIO appointments confirmed

Dr Alec Price-Forbes has been appointed as the national chief clinical information officer (CCIO) and Helen Balsdon as the national chief nursing information officer (CNIO).

The appointments have yet to be officially announced, but Digital Health News has learned that they will take up the roles on1 October 2024.

Dr Price-Forbes is a consultant rheumatologist and former CCIO for Coventry and Warwickshire’s sustainability and transformation partnership, Better Health, Better Care, Better Value. He is also clinical chair of Digital Health’s integrated care system (ICS) Digital Council.

Balsdon has been in post as interim national CNIO since the departure of Natasha Phillips as national CNIO in 2023.

The news follows a lengthy delay in confirming the appointments caused by the general election in July 2024, and the protracted continuing re-organisation of NHS England following NHS Digital’s merge into NHS England’s Transformation Directorate in February 2023.

Recruitment for the national CCIO role began in April 2024, following the departure of Dr Melanie Isles, who was appointed interim national CCIO in February 2023. Isles followed Jonathan Benger, who served as an interim until November 2022, before taking up the role of medical director at NICE.

The last substantive national CCIO was Simon Eccles who departed in April 2022 having served as national CCIO for over four years. 

NHSE has lacked a permanent national CCIO since the departure of Simon Eccles in April 2022, who served in the role for more than four years before leaving to return to his role at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Eccles was the second national CCIO appointed, following the appointment of Dr Keith McNeil, who held the role for 13 months.

The role of national CCIO was created following a recommendation made by Professor Robert Wachter in the report, ‘Making IT Work: Harnessing the power of health information technology to improve care in England’, published by the Department of Health and Social Care in September 2026.

Meanwhile, Prabha Vijayakumar, was appointed national chief allied health professionals information officer (CAHPIO) for NHSE in April 2024.

Professor Erika Denton interim national medical director for transformation at NHSE said: “Clinical leadership is essential as we transform patient care in the NHS through digital, technology and data, and we are delighted to welcome three of the most experienced digital clinical leaders in the country to NHS England to lead this ambitious programme”.

This story was amended at 13.14 on 19 September 2024 to include Prabha Vijayakumar’s appointment and a comment from NHSE.