14.01.19
NHS England’s chief digital officer to leave service for video GP company
NHS England’s chief digital officer, Juliet Bauer, is set to leave the service to take up a role at a digital video GP provider in April.
Just days after the NHS Long-Term Plan, which promised to provide digital GP consultations for everyone who wanted it, Bauer will take up a role at digital GP provider Livi – which works on both NHS and private services.
Bauer leaves her role of NHS England’s chief digital officer after working on digital projects such as the NHS app and NHS app library, NHS 111 online, widening digital patient participation, and spearheading the programme known as ‘Empower the Person’.
Her exit was discovered in an internal memo to staff which stated that Bauer would leave with “immediate effect” and paid tribute to her work at NHS England.
Bauer told staff: “I couldn’t imagine the things we would be able to achieve. ‘Empower the Person’ has come a long way, and I believe is on a really strong strategic path, and that is thanks to all of your hard work.
“Admittedly I have learnt more acronyms that I cared for and signed off more assurance documents that I would have liked.”
NHS England’s deputy chief executive Matthew Swindells said in the memo: “I am extremely grateful to Juliet for all her hard work and passion over the last two and half years, which has ensured we have a clear digital strategy for engaging citizens in their own health and care.”
Livi, a Swedish company, holds several NHS contracts and provides video GP consultations.
The country director of Livi UK, Luke Buhl-Nielsen, commented: “We are incredibly excited to have Juliet join the Livi team.
“Her unrivalled experience within NHS England and the wider Health and Social Care Digital Transformation programme during a period of unprecedented change is invaluable as we work alongside the health service to deliver a digital vision for primary care and transform outcomes for patients everywhere.”
As part of the NHS’s long-term plan published last week, all secondary providers will “advance to a core level of digitisation” and will be moved to digital records by 2024, as well as digital GP consultations being made available.
Bauer’s departure follows last week’s news that NHS Digital’s first chief information officer, Robert Coles, would be resigning after just three months in the role.
Image credit - georgeclerk