Former Whitehall digital guru Tim Kelsey has been appointed to run Australia’s new agency responsible for all national digital health services and systems.
Kelsey was NHS England’s first national director for patients and information until last year, when he left to join Australian company Telstra Health as its commercial director.
Before he joined the NHS in 2012 he was executive director of transparency and open data at the Cabinet Office.
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Interview: Tim Kelsey
Australia’s health minister Sussan Ley said Kelsey came with an impressive track record and would start as chief executive officer for the new Australian Digital Health Agency later this month.
“He is internationally regarded as a leader in digital health, in both the private and public sectors, and has a proven track record in delivery of digital health services,” she said.
Ley said the ADHA would have a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety.
“Most importantly, the new agency is the system operator for the government’s recently launched My Health Record System which is a secure, online summary of people’s health information that can be shared with doctors, hospitals and healthcare providers with the permission of patients,” she said.
“This gives people more control of their health and care and with access to new digital apps and online services the Australian community is benefiting from the modern information revolution.”
Before he became a director of NHS England, Kelsey designed and launched NHS Choices website, the national online information service that transformed access to apps and mobile digital services for patients.
However he also oversaw the care.data programme that aimed to improve health outcomes by connecting GP data with hospital admissions and other patient information, but which faced a number of setbacks and was shelved last month.
In 2000, he co-founded Dr Foster, an organisation which pioneered public access to online information about local health services.