Changes at the top for NHS England IT

NHS England’s chief technology officer Alex Abbott is leaving the organisation at the end of April and Karen Wheeler will head up a new directorate with responsibility for IT.

Abbott previously worked for NHS Connecting for Health before moving across to NHS England.

He has been responsible for the ongoing delivery of a number of national services developed under the National Programme for IT such as the N3 network, the Spine and NHSmail, all of which are in the midst of being replaced.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “Alex has been considering a move back to the private sector for some time and wants to move closer to the front line delivery of technology to the NHS.

“We would like to thank Alex for all of his hard work on behalf of NHS England and wish him every success in the future.”

Wheeler has been appointed to lead the new NHS England national directorate, 'transformation and corporate operations'.

She is currently director general information and group operations at the Department of Health and will join NHS England on secondment on 1 April.

She will report directly to incoming chief executive Simon Stevens and will be a member of the executive team and a non-voting member of the NHS England board.

Stevens said: “Karen has an extensive track record managing major operations and information technology programmes, and leading organisational transformation and major project delivery, in both the public and private sectors, so I'm delighted she will be joining NHS England."

Professor Sir Malcolm Grant, chair of NHS England, said: “I am delighted that Karen Wheeler will be joining NHS England to lead this new directorate and am pleased that she is able to take up post so quickly.

“We have made excellent progress developing NHS England as a highly competent organisation over the last year. We now have an opportunity to further strengthen and develop the organisation and Karen will play a key role in leading and supporting this," he said.