NHS digital profession leaders confirmed for Summer Schools 2026

With NHS England accelerating the professionalisation of the digital workforce, speakers from the organisations leading this national agenda will unite at Summer Schools 2026.

The panel will explore how the NHS is building a recognised, trusted and professionally accredited digital profession.

Speakers will discuss the impact of the NHS 10 year health plan on digital careers, including professional registration, standards, leadership development, ethics and future career pathways for NHS digital professionals.

The panel will include:

• James Freed, deputy director, The NHS Digital Academy, NHS England
• Andrew Griffiths, chief executive, Federation for Informatics Professionals (FEDIP)
• Will Smart, chair, Faculty of Health and Care, BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT
• Iolanda Pedrosa, chief information officer, Whittington Health NHS Trust

Last week, Salma Yasmeen, chief executive at Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, was confirmed as a speaker for Digital Health Summer Schools 2026.

She will be join a panel of leaders reflecting on progress one year into the NHS 10 year health plan, sharing insights on what has been achieved so far and what comes next to realise its ambitions.

The conference, which takes place on 16-17 July at the University of Nottingham, has a revamped format which doubles down on small-group and interactive sessions to provide attendees with more practical insights and deeper knowledge exchange.

Key themes explored in this year’s programme include: ‘Power, influence and accountability: digital leadership in 2026 and beyond’, ‘From innovation to impact: scaling what actually works’, ‘Balancing innovation, safety and ethics in the AI era’, ‘Building effective NHS-supplier relationships’, and ‘The 10 year health plan: one year on’.

Professor Kathrin Cresswell, professor of digital innovation in health and care at the University of Edinburgh, was one of the first speakers to be announced for the event.

Marie-Anne Ledingham, consultant clinical adviser at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Tharni Vasavan, horizon scanning senior health technologies lead at NICE, have also been confirmed.

A first look at the Summer Schools 2026 programme was published last month and is available here.

The premier learning and networking event for digital health leaders is exclusively for members of the Digital Health Networks, the UK’s largest health IT community, and is open to current and aspiring digital health leaders.

The event is supported by Networks sponsors AWS, Better, CereCore, Dell Technologies, InterSystems, Microsoft, Nervecentre, Optum Emis and Salesforce.

Attend Summer Schools to gain CPD points towards your professional registration. Places are limited, so secure your place today and register here.