2026 Participants

Sir Jim Mackey is the Chief Executive Officer at NHS England. From September 2021 to March 2025, Jim was National Director of Elective Recovery at NHS England. From January 2024 to March 2025, he was Chief Executive of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He was also Chair of the NHS Customer Board for Procurement and Supply but stood down on taking up this post at NHS England. From 2003 to 2023, Jim was Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, during which time (2015 to 2017) he was Chief Executive of NHS Improvement, on secondment. He was knighted in 2019 for services to healthcare.

Sir Jim Mackey is the Chief Executive Officer at NHS England. From September 2021 to March 2025, Jim was National Director of Elective Recovery at NHS England. From January 2024 to March 2025, he was Chief Executive of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He was also Chair of the NHS Customer Board for Procurement and Supply but stood down on taking up this post at NHS England. From 2003 to 2023, Jim was Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, during which time (2015 to 2017) he was Chief Executive of NHS Improvement, on secondment. He was knighted in 2019 for services to healthcare.

Rob Thompson was appointed Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer for the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England in May 2026.

Rob is an accomplished chief digital information officer and chief technology officer. Renowned for strategic vision and impactful leadership, he excels in digital transformation, digital product development, and leading large-scale IT organisations, delivering critical services in complex organisations.

He joined the Home Office as Chief Technology Officer in 2018 and later transitioned to the role of Chief Digital Information Officer, setting the department’s 2030 Digital Strategy.

He is a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, chartered engineer, Bachelor of Engineering and Major Projects Leadership Academy graduate.

Birju Bartoli has worked at the trust for over 20 years in a number of different operational and corporate roles before becoming Chief Executive.

She is a scientist by background and has significant experience of working alongside clinicians to develop services that result in both improved clinical outcomes and also efficiencies. The drive for continuous improvement across all services, informed by real-time patient and staff experience is a key factor that drives the board and all parts of the organisation.

She is a strong advocate of both the patient and staff voice when looking at improving services. She is committed to ensuring that all staff, whatever their background, have the opportunity to develop personally and professionally and are made to feel part of the Northumbria family.

Dave is a psychiatric nurse by trade and spent a large proportion of his career working in mental health community settings and teams. For the last 20 years, Dave has worked in a variety of senior system leadership roles at regional and national level, specialising in complex programme management, leadership and strategy. For around ten years he was the CEO of a medium sized social enterprise (NEMHDU) specialising in research, evaluation and implementation of projects and programmes within mental health systems.

Dave is currently Director of Digital Transformation, Data and AIat Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria (HI NENC). He is passionate about the impact digital and tech can play as an enabler to improving patient and staff care and experience, promoting digital inclusion and supporting innovation both from within and into the NHS and Social Care. Outside of work Dave and his family love the sea and have a variety of craft to explore and have fun.

Markus Bolton is Executive Director at Graphnet Health and was previously Founder and CEO at System C Healthcare. He has spent decades championing better use of data to join up care, support clinicians, and improve outcomes for patients and communities. He has played a leading role in developing many of the technologies now used across the NHS, including shared care records, population health analytics, electronic patient records and remote monitoring tools that help health and care teams work together around the needs of local people. 

A long-time advocate for practical innovation, Markus focuses on solutions that make a real difference on the ground. He has worked closely with ICSs, local authorities, and provider trusts across the country, helping them use data to reduce unwarranted variation, tackle waiting lists, and strengthen prevention and early intervention. 

Known for his straight-talking and collaborative approach, Markus brings deep technical knowledge together with a genuine understanding of frontline pressures. He is passionate about creating systems that are intuitive, clinically meaningful, and designed around improving lives rather than adding complexity. 

Outside of work, Markus enjoys walking and travelling – often found exploring new footpaths and countries when he’s not discussing the future of NHS data. 

Karen is a Critical Care Consultant who also serves as a Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) for Northumbria Healthcare. Over the last 6 years Northumbria have embarked on an ambitious digital transformation journey with the aim of improving quality, safety and efficiency across the organisation. Karen works closely with Northumbria’s in house development team designing and refining the electronic patient record. An area of particular interest is helping clinical teams understand the difference between digitisation and digital transformation. She believes that supporting teams to understand their current processes, the problems that they are trying to solve with digitisation, and the need for standardisation are fundamental to digital success.

Farouq Din is Chief Information Officer at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, where he leads the Trust’s digital, data and technology agenda and is a member of the Trust Board. He has more than 20 years’ experience in NHS digital leadership, with a particular focus on digital transformation, electronic patient records, data and analytics, and the adoption of emerging technologies including AI.

Farouq holds a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and an Executive MBA from Lancaster University, and has completed the NHS Nye Bevan leadership programme. He is passionate about using digital innovation and effective partnerships to improve patient care, clinical practice and NHS productivity.

Ming has over 20 years’ experience in managing and delivering large scale change involving implementation of new operating models in complex and challenging environments.

She joined the NHS in October 2009, initially leading commissioning support services in the West Midlands as the Managing Director for Healthcare Commissioning Services and then as the Managing Director for South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Commissioning Support Unit.

Ming is currently the Chief Data and Analytics Officer for NHS England and is responsible for strategic development of data and analytics capability across NHS.

In 2021 Ming was named the most influential person in data and analytics in DataIQ’s top 100 (the first and only fully-curated power list of the most influential data and analytics practitioners) and was awarded Data and Analytics Leader of the Year for transforming the way data and analytics is perceived across the health and care service.

The team Ming leads provides NHS England with the resources to support system transformation, strategic information assets, digital tools and analysis to underpin policy development and predictive capabilities to enhance decision making and improve health and care services.

Prior to joining the NHS, Ming was a Partner with Accenture specialising in Strategy and Supply Chain work. She has worked in Europe, North America, and South East Asia where she was the Managing Partner for the Supply Chain Practice for 3 years.

Her experience spans global clients in Consumer Goods, Retail, Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing and Utility sectors. Ming holds a first-class degree in Pharmacy and an MBA from Warwick University.

Michael Brodie is the Chief Executive Officer of NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), a role he has held since September 2019. Prior to joining the NHSBSA, Michael was, from its inception in 2013, the Finance and Commercial Director for PHE and before that has held senior leadership roles in the NHS, local government and the police service.

Michael is also a non-executive member of the Oversight Board and Chair of the Audit Committee for the National Infrastructure Commission, an Executive Agency of HM Treasury, is a co-opted member of Council for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and a Trustee of the Community Foundation, based in the North East, which is the largest philanthropic organisation in Europe.

David Elliott is Executive Chief Digital Officer of Northumbria Healthcare at NHS Foundation Trust, leading the organisation’s digital, data and technology strategy and delivery. He also serves as Chief Digital Officer for the Great North Healthcare Alliance, a partnership between Gateshead Health, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trusts, supporting collaborative digital leadership and shared transformation across the region.

Before joining the NHS, David held senior technology leadership roles in the energy sector and served as an Executive Director within a hospitality group, leading digital and transformation. This background has shaped a commercially grounded, outcomes-focused approach to modernisation and service delivery. He brings more than 17 years’ experience delivering technology-enabled change across multiple sectors, and is known for pragmatic decision-making and measurable operational impact.

David was recognised as a CIO 100 Awards UK 2024 winner. Beyond his executive responsibilities, he is a board member of UK IT Leaders and has held a range of non-executive director and advisory positions.

Dr. Boissy serves as Chief Medical Officer for Qualtrics, focused on measuring patient experience in the healthcare setting. Prior to this role she served as Chief Experience Officer at Cleveland Clinic. She led the Office of Patient Experience and its initiatives to improve the patient experience across Cleveland Clinic. She also previously served as the Medical Director of the Center of Excellence in Healthcare Communication. Her team created a comprehensive program to strengthen physician and provider communication skills throughout Cleveland Clinic and trained more than 4,000 staff physicians and house staff.

Philippa Kirkpatrick is the Chief Information Officer at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She leads the Trust’s digital, data and information strategy, driving major transformation programmes including enabling transformation of care delivery through optimisation of electronic patient records, cyber security, digital medicines and data infrastructure. Philippa has extensive international healthcare leadership experience and is committed to using technology to improve patient outcomes and staff experience.

Andy is a seasoned healthcare executive with more than 20 years’ experience leading national-scale digital health transformation across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. In the United States, he has advised CMS and the FDA, served on the U.S. Health IT Advisory Committee, and chaired the Information Blocking Task Force. Internationally, he has shaped and delivered national Electronic Patient Record programmes in Australia and Singapore, held board leadership roles with HL7 International as a Fellow, and previously, as Director of Information Governance in the NHS, led initiatives across regulation, privacy and interoperability.

Spanning both business and technology domains, Andy operates as a CIO, CTO and Enterprise Architect, driving integrated digital health strategies across cloud, AI and digital human platforms. Known for his strategic clarity and pragmatic delivery, he helps healthcare organisations accelerate the transition to modern, patient-centred and sustainable models of care.

Charlotte is Deputy Chief Executive at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, a large NHS hospital organisation which she joined in May 2024. Her responsibilities include System Integration and working across Place, Strategy and Transformation, Digital Services, Improvement, Innovation and Organisational Development. Charlotte is also a member of the North Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Health and Care Partnership Board.

Prior to her current role, Charlotte was Chief Strategy & Improvement Officer at Mid & South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, a very large hospital group leading on quality improvement and innovation, digital services, system and service redesign, clinical service strategy, system-wide transformation, and strategic intelligence. When in Essex, Charlotte developed the successful and award-winning MSE Innovation Fellowship and partnered with Anglia Ruskin University and NHS England to deliver the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Training Programme, including launching the InSites network of adoption partners across England.   Charlotte joined the MSE Foundation Trust in August 2017 from UCLPartners Academic Health Science Partnership where she held a number of roles working across discovery science, clinical research, and innovation. This included public engagement in service change, widening involvement in research, wealth creation and business development.

Charlotte was seconded for two years to NHS England’s Strategy Group, within national policy and strategy development, including supporting the writing 2016’s Next Steps on the Forward View and Programme Manager for the initiation of the NHS New Models of Care Vanguard Programme. As the founding Executive Director of the London Cancer Integrated Cancer System, Charlotte helped drive major system change in the capital between 2010 and 2014, after several years as a senior manager in acute hospital operations. Charlotte began her career as an NHS Graduate Management Trainee in 2001, after a Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford.

Charlotte is an Associate Editor at the BMJ Leader journal and has works with the Proud2BOps Network and NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme to support future leaders in heath and care. Charlotte has won multiple awards for her work on the adoption of innovation into practice across healthcare, and patient and staff engagement in digital change, and has written and spoken on this subject for several years. Charlotte is a member of the Innovation Advisory Group for Alzheimer’s Society, an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham, a Senior Visiting Fellow at Bayes Business School, London and Chair of Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, a national charity supporting people with disabilities.

Andrew Besford works across large private sector organisations and complex public systems, helping them use technology and data to modernise services and deliver change.

He authored the Global Government Forum report, “A fresh mandate for digital leadership in the NHS”, which identifies what needs to change to meet the UK government’s digital ambitions for the NHS.

He served as a senior civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions and at the Cabinet Office’s Government Digital Service, where he led the creation of the 2017 UK Government Transformation Strategy. Andrew is a non-executive director in the NHS and chairs the digital committee at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Sarah has over 15 years’ experience as a journalist with a specialism in the public sector and topics such as digitalisation and climate action.

Sarah is GGF’s research editor, where she leads research projects that work to indentify best practice from government leaders around the world, and to understand the skills and priorities of civil servants.

Sarah was formerly the editor of Cities Today and Smart Cities World, as well as a specialist video-based publication in the aerospace sector. She has also written for publications including Smart Cities Dive, Mobile Europe, Mobile World Live and Computer Weekly.

Richard is the Executive Editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as Acting Editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.