NHS England Director of Patients Slams NHS England Director of Information

This whole care.data debacle has led to a number of very helpful and informative blogs, and I certainly do not intend to rerun all the column inches that have been spent discussing the pros and cons of the project.

For me, this tale has highlighted an odd decision to create a senior position in NHS England of Director of Patients and Information.  A job description that was bound to lead the job holder into a predicament where media outlets and patient groups would inevitably question whether he could reflect 'patient voice' with any authority, whilst also advocating an IT project that appeared to them to have listened very poorly to that same voice

Imagine, if you will, a different past, where there were two jobs, not one.  The Director of Information and the Director of Patients.  Now imagine what would have happened in the corridors of Quarry House when the Director of Patients realised that the Director of Information was going to breeze ahead with a junk mail drop about care.data in the face of mounting disquiet in primary care, and without even the overt support of HealthWatch England!  We might make a reasonable guess that the Director of Patients would be requesting urgent meetings with the Director of Information and most likely bending the ear of Sir David Nicholson.  There would, no doubt, be 'robust' exchanges.

Of course, none of this can happen as the two directors are the same person.

What I think should happen during this 6 month hiatus, is that NHS England should consider freeing up Tim Kelsey to focus on his role as Director of Information.  Not as a demotion or on any way as a failure, but to highlight that IT is just too important to have a part-time head.  And Tim remains the charismatic leader that can make real changes in the way the NHS thinks about its IT, and continue the drive for a more open and transparent future.  He can help make patients voices better heard through the delivery of innovative and open solutions.

And the Director of Patients?  Frankly, I think that the role is moot.  For NHS England to imply that this is separate job, implies that the other Directors have less responsibility to patients.  That is obviously a nonsense.  For a Director of Patients to successfully reflect 'patient voice', they need complete independence from the Board.  But if the Board pays their wages, then the public and media are never going to quite buy into it.  My choice would be to take the budget for 'patients' out of NHS England and deliver it to where it should be, in HealthWatch England.  Failing that, then move 'patient voice' as a direct function of the office of the Chief Executive, which would at least reflect the central, core role that patient voice has within the new NHS.