Long-term CIO Kevin Jarrold retires after 38-year NHS career

Kevin Jarrold has retired from his role as joint chief information officer (CIO) at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust after an NHS career spanning 38 years.

His role came to an end on 30 September 2024, but he will retain his position as CIO for the North West London Integrated Care Board (ICB) for the remainder of 2024, whilst transition arrangements are put in place.

After joining Imperial College Healthcare as CIO in 2011, Jarrold drove the move from paper health records to an electronic patient record (EPR) system able to attract NHS global digital exemplar status in partnership with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Taking on the role of joint CIO, Jarrold then led collaborative work across the two organisations to have both working on the same instance of the EPR system.

The next stage was to make that the single EPR for the new North West London Acute Provider Collaborative, with London North West University Healthcare Trust going live in August 2023, and the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in November 2023.

At the same time, Jarrold led the growth of the North West London Care Information Exchange to become the largest patient portal in the country, with more than 750,000 registered patients having access to appointments, letters and test results.

Jarrold said: “It has been a privilege to work with so many talented and dedicated colleagues during 38 years in the NHS, most recently at Imperial College Healthcare and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trusts, and the North West London ICB.

“When I first joined Imperial College Healthcare in 2011, I articulated an ambition: any clinician interacting with a patient should have reliable real-time access to all the information the trust holds about them, so they can offer the best care possible.

“I called it a simple ambition, but we were a long way from it, with largely paper records and an ageing digital infrastructure.

“Fast forward 13 years and we have delivered this vision across all the acute hospitals in north west London.

“Our digital transformation, which is so critical to the health and care of the patients and communities we serve, will continue under the leadership of Robbie Cline”.

Robbie Cline has been appointed to the role of CIO for the North West London Acute Provider Collaborative, starting from 1 October 2024.

The North West London Acute Provider Collaborative took the decision to move from having two joint CIOs to one to further strengthen joined-up working.