17.09.15
Tim Kelsey leaving NHS England to join private company
NHS England’s national director for patients and information, Tim Kelsey, is to leave the organisation by the end of the year to join Telstra Health, a division of Australia’s leading telecommunications provider.
Kelsey, who joined NHS England in 2012 and is also the chair of the National Information Board in health and care, has led the NHS’s work on data technology. This has included the controversial and delayed care.data initiative.
Earlier this month at NHS Expo, he announced that every local health and care area is required to submit a delivery plan by April 2016 describing how they will become paper-free at the point of care by 2020.
On joining Telstra Health as its commercial director, Kelsey said: “The decision to leave has been one of the hardest I’ve made but I’m going to fulfil an ambition that will come as no surprise to those who know me well – to develop next generation digital services for patients and professionals that I hope will help all of us take more control of our health and care.
“New technologies – particularly the advent of genomics and personalised medicine – offer unprecedented opportunity to transform health outcomes.”
Last year, NHS England launched the ‘Personalised Health and Care 2020’ report which explained how it will go about giving patients digital access to all their records by 2018, and how the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will regulate the quality of record-keeping from April 2016.
“Together we have made the case for a digitally-enabled NHS in which patients are encouraged to participate. Over the last three years we have made significant progress on turning that aspiration into reality,” said Kelsey.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said that over the last three years Kelsey has been “vital” in the drive for open, transparent and technology-enabled health services.
“So as the NHS moves into the implementation phase of the strategy Tim has helped craft, we wish him every success as he shifts gear to working in Australia and internationally,” he said.
NHS England has made no announcement about who his replacement could be.