Frank Hester reported to have stepped down as CEO of TPP

Frank Hester is believed to have stepped down as chief executive and resigned his role as sole director of primary care IT supplier The Phoenix Partnership (TPP).

HSJ reported that documents available on Companies House show that in September 2025 Hester resigned as the only director of TPP, which he founded, and was replaced by a new director named Maria Tomasso.

TPP’s SystmOne electronic patient record (EPR) system is one of the most widely used clinical systems in primary care and community trusts, holding around 40% of the market for GP clinical software in England.

In summer 2025, Hestor’s description on TPP’s website was changed from “Founder & CEO” to “Founder”, with Charlotte Knowles, a former managing director who has worked for the firm for more than 20 years, listed as “chief executive officer”.

Hester was embroiled in a race row in March 2024 after The Guardian alleged that he had made racist and misogynistic remarks at a TPP company meeting, which seemed to incite violence against the UK’s longest serving black MP Diane Abbott, who is now an independent MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

In a statement, TPP did not deny that Hester made the comments but instead sought to portray them as “rude” adding that Hester was “deeply sorry for his comments” and condemned racism.

Despite the controversy, TPP has continued to secure NHS contracts and extensions, with Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust awarding a 10-year contract extension for an EPR system from TPP worth almost £6.3 million in August 2024.

The trust told Digital Health News that it had “sought assurance from TPP regarding their equality, diversity and inclusion policies.”

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust also confirmed in May 2025 that TPP had been selected to supply its new EPR following a “rigorous tender process”.

Meanwhile, at the Digital Health Rewired 2024 event in March 2024, attendees who were offended by Hester’s alleged comments were urged to sign an open letter condemning racism and discrimination and pledging commitment to develop an ‘equity charter’ for the digital health industry.

The Equity Charter, co-founded by Ayesha Rahim, clinical lead for digital mental health, Transformation Directorate at NHS England, Victoria Betton, director at Peopledotcom and Hassan Chaudhury, formally launched at Digital Health Rewired 2025 in March, sharing 10 principles to tackle discrimination in the sector.

In a joint statement, the Equity Charter co-founders said: “There’s so much potential for good in our sector, and so much desire to do the right thing for society in general.

“It feels wrong to focus too much on the behaviour of a single individual, however egregious. What’s most interesting to us is how this episode has pushed our sector to engage with what equity really means.

“The Equity Charter is a positive movement, focused on digital health equity, and its link to reducing inequalities.”

It will hold its inaugural community of practice event in London on 10 November 2025.

Digital Health News contacted TPP for comment.