Digital Transformation: AI, EHRs, and Data Interoperability

Hatim is Chief Executive Officer for Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, part of the NHS Health Innovation Network.  Alongside this role, he continues to practice as a General Practitioner.

In 2018, Hatim was appointed National Medical Directors Clinical Fellow to Professor Wendy Reid by the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. His key achievements were co-author and member of the Sir Keith Pearson Commission into NHS Staff and Learner Mental Health and co-founding the ‘Topol Programme for Digital Health Fellowships’ launched by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in 2019. He later became the National Clinical Lead for AI and Digital Workforce at NHS England providing clinical leadership to the NHS Digital Academy and leading on AI in the NHS’s historic Long Term Workforce Plan.

Hatim studied Medicine at the prestigious Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, going on to complete a Masters in Sports and Exercise from the University of South Wales, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Health Leadership from Imperial College London. Hatim holds Membership of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics and the Royal College of General Practitioners, as well as Fellowship of Advance Higher Education.

Hatim has been a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University London, supporting the Physician Associate MSc and development of Brunel Medical School. Hatim is a Honorary Senior Lecturer at Keele University, working with European partners to develop a Masters in Explainable AI in healthcare management. Hatim is also a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Technology Appraisals Committee, and the Coalition for Health AI Steering Committee.

Hatim is an advocate for safe, ethical and responsible digital and AI transformation and ensuring workforce preparedness for new innovations and technologies in health and care. He regularly speaks internationally and has contributed to the publication of academic papers and white papers spanning workforce, education reform, primary care, digital health and AI.

Outside of work Hatim enjoys travelling and football, and you will likely find him touring England’s best restaurants with his family. 

My current role sees me splitting my time between Cardiff University and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. This means I spend half my time lecturing and researching and the other half putting what I teach into practise.

I'm a late entrant into academia having completed my PhD in 2020. I started my career in the Forces and subsequent worked in manufacturing industries and then the public sector before completing a PhD in operational research.

I have travelled extensively or worked abroad for much of my career and one of the things I really enjoy about the academic environment is the cultural diversity of my colleagues and students.

 

Daniel Gartner is a Professor of Data Science at Aalen University, Germany, and a Professor of Operational Research at Cardiff University’s School of Mathematics. For nearly a decade, Daniel held a unique dual role within the NHS Wales Continuous Improvement Programme’s Mathematical Modelling Unit, bridging the gap between theory and frontline healthcare delivery.

His research sits at the intersection of innovative operational research and data science, driven by a deep commitment to improving outcomes for both patients and healthcare staff. As one of the Editors-in-Chief of Health Systems and the recipient of the prestigious OR Society’s Lyn Thomas Impact Medal, Professor Gartner is recognized globally for his contributions to analytics-driven process improvement.

At the Operational Research Society, Daniel co-leads the Special Interest Group in Health and Care Systems. His influence extends internationally through impactful research and teaching initiatives in Indonesia. By fostering evidence-based decision-making, Daniel’s work spearheads transformative healthcare practices, resulting in measurable enhancements to patient care and systemic operational efficiency.

 

Dr Matea Deliu is an academic GP and health informatician whose work sits at the junction of frontline clinical practice, digital systems leadership, and NHS transformation policy. Holding a PhD in Health Informatics, she brings rigorous analytical grounding to some of the more intractable questions facing health systems as they seek to translate digital investment into genuine service change. She practises clinically across primary and secondary care, a grounding she considers central to her credibility as a systems thinker rather than incidental to it.

 

She currently serves as Clinical Lead for Digital Delivery at South East London Integrated Care Board and as Chief Clinical Information Officer at Bromley Healthcare. Nationally, she holds the role of Primary Care Lead for the Responsible AI UK Health and Social Care Working Group, where she contributes to the development of governance frameworks for AI deployment across the London system. Her portfolio spans electronic patient record implementation in primary care, virtual care pathways, population health management, and the clinical safety dimensions of AI-enabled triage — areas where she is as likely to interrogate structural incentives as she is to advocate for particular technologies.

 

Beyond her operational and policy roles, she mentors innovators through the NHS Innovation Accelerator and London Business School, working with entrepreneurs and clinical leaders navigating the particular difficulties of scaling health technology within the NHS. She is a regular speaker and panellist on digital governance, AI in primary care, and the conditions under which health systems move credibly from pilot to implementation

BICCS Joint Secretary and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist (Oxford)

Eleanor is an Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at Oxford University Hospitals, a research collaborator in translational data science and a Senior Clinical lecturer at the University of Oxford. She is also a Co-Founder and Chief Medical Office at Lifeyear and is joint secretary of the British Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC) Society. As the former Clinical Lead of the Oxford ICC and Heart Failure services and the Cardiology digital champion, Eleanor has spent many years striving to embed digital workflows and technology into practice to enhance efficiencies in care delivery, reduce the administrative burden, improve triage, risk prediction and to manage patients more proactively rather than reactively, enabling a more efficient, preventative healthcare system

Dr Faris Al-Ramadani is an award-winning GP, PCN Clinical Director, and HealthTech consultant dedicated to enhancing patient care through technology and innovative clinical pathways. As a GP Partner, his practice, St Wulfstan Surgery, was named HSJ Primary Care Provider of the Year (2024) and in 2023 ranked number one in England for patient satisfaction for practices with more than 10,000 patients. His leadership at Warwickshire East PCN also led to a shortlisting for PCN of the Year (2024).

To further bridge the gap between innovation and real-world application, he founded and leads the St Wulfstan Digital Accelerator, a pioneering initiative that pilots cutting-edge digital health solutions within a primary care setting.

A respected thought leader and keynote speaker on digital transformation, Dr Al-Ramadani advises HealthTech companies through his consultancy, One Health. He is passionate about redesigning clinical pathways, particularly in mental health, and fostering collaborations that successfully integrate new technologies into clinical practice to deliver tangible benefits for both patients and providers.”

Amanda is the Chief Executive for the NHS Derby and Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Boards. Amanda has been a proponent of integrated care, being Joint SRO of the Mid-Nottinghamshire Better Together programme between 2014 and 2018. This was a Vanguard Primary and Acute Care System (PACS) site, with an Alliance across health and local government.  Amanda has a clinical background, working as a nurse and a midwife before moving into senior management in both acute and commissioning roles. In 2001 Amanda was awarded a PhD for research investigating decision-making during pregnancy.  In her capacity as a consultant midwife, Amanda worked at regional and national levels. She chaired a working group on behalf of the National Screening Committee, which developed national standards for ultrasound consent in pregnancy. She has also edited midwifery text books.

Matt is a consultant acute physician and visiting professor at Hampshire Hospitals and the University of Southampton and Clinical Director for Digital Innovation at Wessex AHSN.

His roles at NHS England are as National Clinical Director for Infection Management, AMR and Deterioration; National speciality advisor for sepsis, National clinical lead for COVID pathways/oximetry@home/virtual wards and the Deterioration and Sepsis CQUINs.

He has led the development of a standardised national methodology for assessing the burden of infections and sepsis, their outcomes and improvement.

He co-developed and co-led the implementation of NEWS2 across all hospitals and ambulance trusts nationally, and the deterioration CQUIN that has been implemented across 114 acute trusts and represents a global first in incentivising the optimal management of acutely ill patients most at risk of death.

He co-developed/led on national sepsis, deterioration and COVID clinical pathways in all community/interface settings, developing and then publishing evidence on the home oximetry monitoring strategy (through leading a national community of practice and clinical reference groups) that led to the purchase of 1.2 million oximeters and national implementation within 38 days and across a further 18 countries during the pandemic.

He is currently developing community-based, acute respiratory infection assessment hubs, having published papers demonstrating their effectiveness as integrated care models supporting urgent care and primary care transformation. 363 were set up last winter, seeing over 740,000 patients in 4 months.

HSJ award winner in Sepsis 2019, Deterioration 2020 and Patient Safety 2021

I have a background in operational leadership and project management with expertise gained in clinical and transformation roles across the healthcare industry.

Uniquely placed in the overlap of the emerging healthtech sector and the NHS, I understand the pressing requirements for digital health transformation and have the network to engage and influence senior stakeholders to facilitate digital change.

I have passion and commitment to the transformation of health and care services and the enablement of leaders and teams to make this happen. I see digital innovation as a key driver to making services fit for the future.

An Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner by background, Linda Vernon is Head of Digital Empowerment at Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.

Passionate about how technology can empower individuals, communities & our workforce to thrive, and the principles of user-centred design & co-production, Linda leads the digital citizen portfolio across Lancashire & South Cumbria, as well as the overarching digital and data strategy for the wider digital portfolio.  She also drives the digital, data and AI literacy agenda for the ICB, and is passionate about empowering our workforce and our citizens to access and benefit from digital tools.  She is an ‘upstreamist’ with a focus on how we can better support the prevention and population health agendas.

Linda enjoys climbing fells in the Lake District, playing guitar, ukulele and singing, and believes the health of the planet and her inhabitants are mutually dependant.

Lee Rickles is Chief Information Officer at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and Director of Interweave, the platform behind the Yorkshire & Humber Care Record (YHCR). With over 30 years in transformation and programme management—including 20 years in NHS digital innovation—Lee has led major advancements in healthcare technology.

At Humber, he oversees the BeDigital Transformation Programme, delivering a new electronic patient record, improved patient communications, and leading mental health digital transformation across the Humber & North Yorkshire ICS. He is the national Senior Responsible Owner for the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, promoting equitable care.

Lee helped develop Interweave, enabling secure, standards-based sharing of patient records, aligned with the PRSB Core Information Standard and recognised by HSJ Digital Awards.

A Hull native, Lee is a BCS Fellow, FEDIP Leading Practitioner, and CHIME Certified Health CIO, contributing to national bodies and advocating for inclusive, people-focused digital transformation.

X handle @larickles

www.linkedin.com/in/leerickles

Irrum Afzal is an Imperial College London graduate and a recipient of the National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) Director’s Award. In addition to her academic qualifications, she holds both PRINCE2 Practitioner and Foundation certifications, demonstrating strong project management expertise.

With experience across both the NHS and private healthcare sectors, she brings a combination of research expertise, operational insight, and digital transformation experience particularly in AI, EHR modernisation, and data interoperability. She has played a pivotal role in multiple digital health transformation programmes, leading and supporting projects from initial concept through to successful go‑live delivery.

Irrum holds multiple positions of responsibility, including Vice Chair of Research and Innovation for the NOA, Board Member for OrthoAI (ORAIA), Research Committee Representative for the British Orthopaedic Sports Trauma and Arthroscopy Association (BOSTAA), and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity Lead for BOSTAA. She is also a Non-Executive Board Member of the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) and plays an active role in the Imperial College Alumni Service.

I am CCIO and Consultant Stroke Physician at the Neuroscience Division at Queen's hospital, London and North East London Stroke Network Lead. I have gained postgraduate training in London. I have pursued my dedication to Stroke with sub-speciality Stroke at Cambridge and Southend. I am an innovator of HOT-TIA which has been awarded me with Hospital Hero and team with EHI award, HSJ award and NHS Innovation challenge prize of £100,000.

I am also the recipient of the Outstanding Clinician Award by EMS for the year 2016 and the Excellence Award as rated by patients on Iwantgreatcare in 2018. My team has won the Future NHS Award of 2018 at BHR Trust.

Dr Neelan Das is a Senior Consultant Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiologist at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

He is leading on the implementation of artificial intelligence tools within the division of imaging at East Kent Hospitals Foundation Trust and has published on the ethics of AI in radiology.

Neelan also leads on research and is the local principle investigator in several cutting edge trials utilising Interventional radiology techniques, medical imaging and advanced technology. 

In his spare time, he enjoys his family as well as pondering how the world might look in a hundred years.

Dr Betul Gokkaya is a researcher at the University of Southampton specialising in AI risk, cybersecurity, and socio-technical system safety. Her research focuses on understanding AI-related risks across different domains, with a current emphasis on healthcare AI regulation and how regulatory requirements can be meaningfully implemented within software development and deployment practices. Her work bridges AI governance, cyber resilience, and real-world system design, with the aim of supporting safer and more trustworthy AI-enabled healthcare services.

I am Clinical Director of Bristol North Somerset and South Gloucestershire NHS at home service, Clinical Governance lead for the surgical division in North Bristol NHS trust and a vascular surgeon by trade. I am passionate about the role that innovation can play in creating more time to care.