NHS CIOs urge stronger national digital leadership

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Chief Information Officers from across the NHS in England have sent the CIO Live Insights Report to NHS England. Lee Rickles of Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and CIO Live Chair Omer Moghraby submitted the document.

The report sets out digital leaders’ views on the pressures facing NHS technology teams and calls for clearer national leadership. It argues that digital work should be treated as central to improving care and that greater alignment is needed across the health service.

Its findings draw on discussions at the first national gathering of NHS Chief Information Officers. Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said the work was produced in response to the NHS 10 Year Plan and is intended to provide a practical roadmap for strengthening digital delivery across the service.

Main themes include workforce capability, interoperability and reducing duplication between organisations. The report also makes the case for more consistent national design and stronger collaboration between trusts, regions and NHS England.

Rickles is Chief Information Officer at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and Deputy Chair of the CIO Live Organising Committee. His experience of digital change in a complex care setting helped shape the report’s focus on staff skills and system interoperability.

National focus

The submission comes as NHS organisations face continuing pressure to modernise data and technology while improving patient care and managing financial constraints. Digital leaders have also had to contend with uneven system adoption, varying local standards and the challenge of linking services across providers.

The report’s central message is that these issues require a more joined-up response from the top of the health system. It says digital leadership should be embedded at every level of national design rather than treated as a separate operational function.

CIO Live, the forum behind the document, brought together senior digital leaders from NHS trusts alongside national and regional NHS figures. Organisers described it as a space for frank discussion and joint problem-solving.

That approach appears to have shaped the report’s tone, which focuses on practical measures rather than broad statements of intent. It presents the concerns of local technology leaders as a collective view from across the service.

One aim is to improve consistency in how digital programmes are developed and delivered. Another is to strengthen neighbourhood-focused delivery, reflecting the wider NHS shift towards more integrated and locally responsive care.

Leadership call

Rickles outlined the purpose of the work in a statement accompanying the report.

“Publishing this report marks an important moment for the NHS digital community. It reflects the real challenges we face every day, but more importantly it sets out practical and collective solutions. The recommendations give us a clear mandate to strengthen collaboration, reduce duplication and ensure digital leadership is embedded at every level of national design. We are proud to have contributed to this work and will continue to champion the principles of shared learning, standardisation and neighbourhood‐focused digital delivery,” said Lee Rickles, Chief Information Officer, Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust.

The report has now been passed to national leaders for consideration. A three-month scoping phase is due to follow, with implementation planned for the third quarter of 2026.

This timetable suggests the document is intended to feed into formal planning rather than remain a discussion paper. It also points to a structured route from consultation to delivery.

For Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, the submission places one of its senior executives at the centre of a national debate about how the NHS organises and governs digital change. For the wider service, the report adds to pressure for a more coherent approach to leadership, standards and delivery across England’s health system.