Movers and shakers news round-up: October 2017

This month’s Movers and Shakers round-up brings news of healthcare IT appointments from across the Irish sea as well as across England. We also report on the former telecommunications and internet firm chief executive who is now the government’s preferred candidate for chairperson of NHS Improvement.


Jane Carolan is to serve as interim CIO for the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE). She takes on the duties in addition to her role as national director for health business services at HSE, and while a permanent replacement is recruited for Richard Corbridge. As previously reported by Digital Health News, Corbridge is leaving to take up the role of chief digital and information officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Plenty of IT appointments to report on at global digital exemplar Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Andrew Forrest joined as CIO earlier in the year, following the departure of director of informatics Malcolm Senior to NHS Digital. Stuart Hill, who was the trust’s head of programme management and systems, has become deputy CIO.

There are also two new CCIOs at Taunton and Somerset – consultant rheumatologist Luke Gompels and consultant colorectal surgeon Tom Edwards jointly hold the role. They take over the reins from Chris Swinburn, who has now retired.

On the other side of the country, Mike Hunter has taken up the CCIO role at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust. A consultant psychiatrist and the trust’s executive medical director, Hunter also serves as associate national clinical director for mental health at NHS Improvement.

Speaking of the national regulator, the government’s preferred choice to become its new chair is the former head of a telecommunications and broadband firm. Baroness Dido Harding was the chief executive of TalkTalk until February this year. In October 2016, the Information Commissioner’s Office fined the company a record £400,000 following a cyber attack in which the data of nearly 157,000 customers was accessed.

At Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Drew has been appointed to the new executive post of director of improvement and culture. He joins from management consultancy McKinsey and Company, where he was a partner in the healthcare practice. His responsibilities at the trust will include analytics and performance improvement.

Over in the private sector, Reading-based tech startup Virtualstock has appointed a new chief revenue and marketing officer. Will Winder joins the firm after a period as head of sales at CSC. Virtualstock is a software as a service firm which “aims to transform global enterprise supply chains and marketplaces”. In October 2016, the Shelford Group – which consists of the country’s 10 major teaching hospitals – signed a deal with the company to use its supply chain management software. As Digital Health reported the following month, Virtualstock also secured a 2016 deal with NHS Shared Business Services.