Digital Health advisory panels welcome new AHP members

Digital Health Networks has welcomed two new allied health professional (AHP) members to its advisory panels. 

Leah Parry, chief X information officer (CxIO) nursing, midwifery and AHPs at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust has joined the Chief Clinical Information Officer Advisory Panel (CCIO AP).

Meanwhile, Emma Jackson, chief AHP and nursing information officer at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust has been appointed onto the CNIO Advisory Panel.

Lauren Hoodless, head of Digital Health Networks, said: “Both have been co-opted onto the advisory panels as this is an area of experience that we were lacking and it’s important that we ensure we have a multidisciplinary voice for the wider community.”

Parry told Digital Health News: “The AHP view point brings such benefit to the Digital Health CCIO AP.

“We’re the third largest clinical group in the NHS and have the benefit of working across patient pathways and clinical areas, but too often our voices aren’t heard in these conversations.

“Including AHPs isn’t just about fairness, it’s about making sure the panel reflects the real, everyday multidisciplinary teams that deliver care.

“This will avoid solutions being shaped through a single lens. The challenges we face in digital health are rarely that simple, they are complex and affect colleagues and patients in different ways.

“By having AHPs involved, we’d bring in fresh perspectives, richer ideas, and more rounded solutions.

“In short, the advisory panel will be stronger, more relevant, and better prepared for the future if it truly represents the whole clinical community and includes the AHP voice.”

Commenting on the appointment, Penny Kechagioglou, chair of the CCIO AP, said: “Our CCIO advisory panel welcomes Leah Parry, our first CxIO Nursing, Midwifery and ANP.

“It’s important to empower the multidisciplinary clinical voice through the panel and enable diverse clinical leadership in the network, as we implement our priorities in the next two years.”

Jackson said that including AHPs on the CNIO AP gives “a balanced approach to the needs of clinicians within the digital health landscape”.

“I hope to bring the voice of AHPs to the CNIO AP, where the needs of this clinical workforce can be recognised, valued and considered within digital health transformation,” she added.

Welcoming Jackson, Hayley Grafton, chair of the CNIO AP, said: “In clinical practice we work as a multi-disciplinary team with the patient at the centre, and driving forward digital transformation is no different.

“We must ensure that the technologies and innovations we deploy meet the needs of everyone caring for patients and enable them to do so as effectively as possible.

“Emma’s expertise will help us consider the full scope of practice and challenge assumptions, strengthening our work as a panel.”

The new line-up of Digital Health Networks advisory panel chairs is all-female one for the first time.

Alongside Kechagioglou and Grafton, Amy Freeman, chief digital information officer at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, was elected as chair of the Chief Information Officer Advisory Panel.