Following a competitive set of elections, I am delighted to announce that techUK's Health & Social Care Council has now elected a new Chair and two Vice-Chairs. Shane Tickell (CEO, Temple Black) will lead the Council as Chair, after several years as Vice-Chair. The Vice-Chair positions will now be filled by Charlotte Lewis (Commercial Lawyer, Mills & Reeve) and Phillipa Winter (Chief Technologist, CDW).
Shane, Charlotte, and Phillipa will spearhead the Council's efforts in 2024, guiding both techUK and our public sector partners. Have a read below to find out what your new Chair and Vice-Chairs will be prioritising, as well as to hear from two new Council members Justin Whatling (Managing Director Global Health & Life Sciences, Palantir) and Paula Ridd (Strategy Director, Health & Care, Civica) on their 2024 priorities for the Council.
See the full list of Health & Social Care Council members here.
If you would like to find out more about what the Council do, join our session on 29th February for an overview of techUK's Health & Social Care Programme.
2024 will be a critical year for Health and Care Technology suppliers and leaders of change. We need to help reduce pressures on the health and care systems, ease the burden on patients and staff, and tackle a 7.7 million person waiting list in England. Whilst our end users experience more strain than ever before, we must find ways to keep up the momentum whilst finance is thin, and government is changing. We must show ingenuity, take bigger risks, cooperate more than ever before to serve the biggest backlog of treatment and mental health conditions that our country has faced since the Word War II. To make a great digital environment requires a mixture of organisations and I want to use my energy, experience and voice to help distribute opportunities across our enterprises, enabling SMEs to work better with their big cousins, complimenting where we can and distributing knowledge, jobs and finances equitably.
Shane Tickell, Chair
I am delighted to be nominated as one of this year's two Vice Chairs for techUK's Health and Social Care Council, my goal is to blend healthcare technology expertise with clinical insight. I aim to bridge innovation and practical care needs, ensuring our initiatives as a council are not just cutting-edge but clinically relevant, while always promoting our industry. With Shane as Chair and Charlotte as co-vice chair, alongside the whole council, I aspire to amplify collaboration, advocate for impactful policies, and shape a future where health and social care tech meets real-world needs.
Phillipa Winter, Vice-Chair
It's an honour to have been chosen to co-vice chair for techUK's Health and Social Care Council along with Phillipa and I'm hugely thankful to my fellow council members for this opportunity. Together with the Council and members, we will continue to raise awareness of the role technology and the industry can play in shaping the future of digital health and care in the UK, fostering collaboration between the public and the private sector for the benefit of patients, the health and care workforce and our wider economy. With the right approach, technology will be a key enabler in improving health and social care in the UK and globally.
Charlotte Lewis, Vice-Chair
I would like to ensure the voice of industry is actively heard and engaged. The sector faces challenges across multiple settings, and I feel the supplier community can add huge value. For many reasons, secondary care is often prioritised; the real benefit to us as citizens (whether as patients, family, or staff) is joining up our care sectors to transform the way services are delivered across transitions of care. We can improve patient pathways and boost cost savings and efficiencies. It's vital that we collaborate with other suppliers to ease the totality of the burden. We must continue to influence policy to join up funding and approaches - and look more holistically at the way we deliver care across the UK.
Paula Ridd, Strategy Director, Health & Care, Civica
I have a keen interest in driving forward efficiencies for demand and capacity management in health and care at this time of great need, with focus on frictionless processes and integrating data to assist in routine operational and clinical decision making. I firmly believe if we get this right, we will together build the new post-COVID digital highway, underpinning new MedTech innovation, creating an attractive environment life science, and improving population health outcomes for all. A key priority will be providing new and emerging health technology firms with better access to the NHS and, conversely, providing the NHS with easier access to their innovation. A particular focus here will be to drive forward AI - the NHS has a wide range of needs amenable to AI, and to large language models in particular. The potential benefits to NHS productivity and patient outcomes are significant, and the Council can support the acceleration of AI adoption, in a responsible, secure and well-governed way.
Justin Whatling, Managing Director Global Health & Life Sciences, Palantir