As the new National Health Service England chief information officer, John Quinn will run and be tasked with innovating the NHS’s critical technical infrastructure and managing cybersecurity for national services.

WHY IT MATTERS

Quinn previously spent eight years in leadership roles at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and was MHRA's executive director for technology, digital data and delivery during the pandemic. 

He assumed the temporary CIO role at NHS Digital in February as the agency conducted its search for a permanent hire.

Dr. Tim Ferris, National Director of Transformation at NHS England, said in this past week's announcement that the team values Quinn's "wise and caring leadership style."

"I’ve found John’s measured, insightful and outcomes-oriented approach to problem-solving invaluable since he joined NHS England," he added.

Quinn served the United Kingdom's Department for Education in Digital, Technology, Project Delivery and Knowledge Management early in his career.

THE LARGER TREND

The UK is fast-tracking digital maturity across sectors and has a $2.3B digital health and social care plan, including the implementation of electronic patient records in all NHS trusts and increasing remote monitoring capabilities to help more than 500,000 people manage long-term health conditions at home.

At least 90% of NHS trusts and foundation trusts should have EPRs by December 2023 and 95% by March 2025, according to a new NHS mandate issued last week. 

Also, 80% of Care Quality Commission-registered adult social care providers must have digital social care records in place while 75% of adults in England must be registered on the NHS App by March 2024.

Through the app, patients in England will have greater access to their health data and power over how it is used, according to commitments made in a health data strategy the Department of Health and Social Care announced last year.

ON THE RECORD

"John has led significant digital transformations throughout his career, and so brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role of chief information officer," said Ferris in the statement.

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.