newsletter
But check where it comes from.
NHS England is currently recruiting a new national Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO) to lead the Digital Clinical Informatics team in the Transformation Directorate.
The job listing was published on the NHS Jobs website on Friday 12 April, with NHSE describing the national CCIO position as “an absolutely vital role within our structure”.
The job involves “advocating for the huge and continually growing opportunity associated with the digitization of the clinical pathway, while ensuring a deep understanding of the risks involved and overseeing the judgment required to evaluate the two side by side.”
NHSE is seeking a candidate with substantial clinical experience who is a hands-on clinical leader with a track record of comprehensive leadership and strategic vision.
Potential national CCIOs will also need to have practical experience of introducing new technologies and innovations and managing business change on a scale of systems, supplier collaboration or equivalent across local government, charities or industry.
Other requirements listed in the job ad include:
- Extensive knowledge of information, data and analytics, using standards and leveraging technology to improve services, access to services and empower patients across health and social care.
- Significant senior clinical committee level experience with responsibility for technology or a CCIO or provider partnership within the NHS, ICS or related industry on a national scale.
- A qualified clinical professional currently registered with the relevant professional body(s) and with significant evidence of continuing professional development.
History of the National CCIO Role
The first national CCIO was Professor Keith McNeil, former director of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who was appointed in July 2016. He held the position for 13 months before resigning in August 2017 to return to Australia and take up the role of CCIO. He is Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer at Queensland Health.
McNeil was replaced by Dr Simon Eccles in February 2018. He was at the time a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at St Thomas’ Hospital and Program Director for Transforming Emergency Care Pathways in London.
Eccles resigned in April 2022 after four years in the role and Professor Jonathan Benger, then chief medical officer of NHS Digital, took on the role of national CCIO on an interim basis until November 2022, when he leaves to become chief medical officer. From the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)
NHSE subsequently reappointed internal candidate Dr Melanie Iles as its first female national CCIO on an interim basis in February 2023. NHSE has therefore lacked a permanent national CCIO since Eccles left two years ago.
You can apply for the National CCIO role at NHSE here. The deadline is Sunday, April 28, 2024.