We’re pleased to announce that David Newey is our new Chief Digital Transformation Officer (interim). He joins us at a critical time as we move away from relying on paper records and introduce an electronic patient record (EPR) next year.

David will attend our Board and provide expert oversight for the roll out of EPR and the extensive digital transformation work associated with this, not least the £12m we are spending on improving Wi-Fi in our hospitals.

Most of David’s professional life has been spent working with the NHS. He was Chief Information Officer at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust when they introduced the Epic EPR in March last year. He also played a pivotal role in the opening of their pioneering Oak Cancer Centre. 

Welcoming David’s appointment, Matthew Trainer, our Chief Executive, said:

I’m delighted to have someone with David’s experience to help improve our organisation and make it fit for the 21^st century.

This is a major undertaking for the Trust and recent rollouts elsewhere have shown that introducing EPR carries significant risks.

I’m grateful that David will help us learn from others, so we can make a success of our digital transformation.

Our new £44m digital system is being provided by Oracle Health Millennium and is the same as the one being used by Barts Health. This will mean that the records of someone visiting any one of the seven hospitals run by BHRUT and Barts Health will be accessible to the clinical team.

Through our collaboration with Barts Health we are benefitting from their knowledge and expertise. As part of this, Sarah Jensen, Chief Information Officer at Barts Health, will now also perform the same role at our Trust as we introduce EPR. Sarah said:

The relevant teams at the two trusts have spent more than two years working collaboratively. I look forward to this partnership delivering for staff and for residents across north east London.