The votes are in, counting is over, and we can now reveal the winners of the Digital Health Network Advisory Panel elections.

This year saw a record number of Network members vote for who they’d like to represent them on the chief clinical information officer (CCIO) and chief information officer (CIO) Advisory Panels.

The election also includes the first directly elected chief nursing information officer (CNIO) Advisory Panel, marking an exciting time for digital nursing.

More than 1,500 votes were cast by members of Digital Health Networks for the candidates they most wanted to represent them on the CCIO, CIO and CNIO Advisory Panels.

Twelve NHS digital leaders have been elected for a two-year term to each Advisory Panel, with the successful candidates comprising a diverse range of some of the most senior local NHS IT leaders coming from all parts of the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The CNIO Advisory Panel includes digital nurses from nine of the leading NHS trusts in England, including Barts and the London, Great Ormond Street, Oxford and Cambridge.

While the new CCIO Advisory Panel has members from trusts including Salford, Milton Keynes, Lancs and South Cumbia, West Suffolk, Birmingham and Solihull, George Eliot and Surrey and Borders, and the new CIO AP includes members from nine NHS trusts and ICSs, including Newcastle-upon-Tyne, The Rotherham, Bradford, Leeds, The Royal Marsden, and Southampton.

Jon Hoeksma, editor-in-chief of Digital Health, said: “The new advisory panel members, most of whom are elected for the first time, are an incredibly diverse and talented group of NHS IT leaders.

“With a record vote from their peers they now have a real mandate to represent and speak on behalf of digital leaders across the NHS. It’s a really exciting milestone for the Networks.”

The 2021 election also saw a record number of candidates step forward for each network – further proof that there’s never been a more exciting time to be working in NHS IT.

The Advisory Panel sets the priorities and direction for the CCIO, CIO and CNIO Network and elects the chair and vice chair to represent each network nationally.

After a hotly contested election run online through May and June, with lively online hustings for the candidates to make their pitches, we can now reveal the 36 members of our Networks who were elected to each Advisory Panel.

CCIO Advisory Panel:

  • Ayesha Rahim, CCIO – Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT
  • Debbie Phillips, CCIO & Consultant Surgeon – Milton Keynes Hospital NHS FT
  • Dermot O’Riordan, CCIO – West Suffolk NHS FT
  • Fiona McDonald, Associate Clinical Director, Clinical Safety Officer – Health Call
  • Gareth Thomas, Deputy CCIO – NHSX
  • James Reed, CCIO – Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS FT
  • Lia Ali, Consultant Psychiatrist, Clinical Safety Officer and Clinical Digital Health adviser – South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and NHSX
  • Manoj Srivastava, Consultant Radiologist & CIO – George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
  • Melissa Andison, Associate CCIO and Associate Director of Digital Health Transformation – Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Ramandeep Kaur, Lead EPMA Pharmacist – Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Ronke Adejolu, Associate CNIO-Community Nursing – NHSX
  • Anne Marie Cunningham, Associate Medical Director – Primary Care in Digital Health and Care Wales

CIO Advisory Panel

  • Adrian Byrne, CIO – University Hospital Southampton NHS FT
  • Amy Freeman, CIO – Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS FT
  • Dan West, Chief Digital Information Officer – Department of Health, Northern Ireland
  • Darren McKenna, CIO – Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS FT
  • Emma Kirkbride, Head of Health & Social Care Systems – Midlands Partnership NHS FT
  • Graham King, CIO – The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospital FT
  • James Rawlinson, Director of Health Informatics – The Rotherham NHS FT
  • Kate Walker, Digital Programme Director – Suffolk & North East Essex ICS
  • Lisa Franklin, CIO – H&IoW STP
  • Lisa Emery, CIO – The Royal Marsden NHS FT
  • Paul Jones, Chief Digital Information Officer – Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Paul Rice, Chief Digital and Information Officer – Bradford Teaching Hospitals and Airedale NHS FT

CNIO Advisory Panel

  • Dione Rogers, CNIO – Kettering General Hospital
  • Euan McComiskie, Digital and Data Lead – Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
  • Hayley Grafton, CNIO – The Royal Marsden NHS FT
  • Helen Balsdon, CNIO – Cambridge University Hospitals
  • Jo Dickson, Chief Nurse – NHS Digital
  • Louise Hicks, CNIO & Director of Development – Barts Health NHS Trust
  • Matthew Little, CNIO – Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Sarah Hanbridge, CCIO Nursing & AHP – The Christies NHS FT
  • Sarah Newcombe, CNIO – Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital
  • Simon Noel, CNIO – Oxford University Hospitals NHS FT
  • Bipinkumar Rathod, Clinical and Nursing Informatics Specialist – ESNEFT, NHS, UK
  • Dawn Dowding, Professor in Clinical Decision Making – University of Manchester

Congratulations to all of our Advisory Panel members – some new and others who have done the job before.

Their first action as the newly elected panel will be to select the chairs and vice chairs for the CCIO, CIO and CNIO Networks.

You’ll have a chance to meet the new chairs and vice chairs of our Advisory Panels on day one of Digital Health Virtual Summer Schools, held on 15-16 July, where you can put your questions to them and hear about their priorities.

The programme for Virtual Summer Schools is now live – you can register to attend here.

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