Calderdale and Huddersfield hospitals Trust Director of Informatics, John Rayner, recently announced he’s resigning and will leave his job at the end of January 2015.
He is jumping ship to work for the Healthcare Informatics & Management Systems Society (HIMSS)-UK, a subsidiary of the US-based company HIMSS.
HIMSS got its UK foothold by buying the Harrogate events management company Citadel in 2012.
It now appears to be well in with NHS England, as HIMSS is a co-sponsor with NHS England of UK e-Health Week 2015, a two day event at the National Hall in Olympia on March 3rd and 4th.
The UK e-Health Week 2015 website says
“In association with NHS England, Patients and Information, UK e-Health Week will consist of a wide range of content themes and areas from m-Health and the HIMSS UK Annual Innovation Conference to the Executive Leadership Summit and HC2015 Conference…As a sponsor you will have major visibility and participation in the main event on 3 and 4 March in the National Hall at Olympia, London…Our sponsor partners have the opportunity to provide lead content and participation in exclusive parts of the event. This is a great time to sponsor UK e-Health Week as March 2015 will be a highly visible and important period for healthcare in the UK because of the impending general election and our partners will benefit from this visibility and exposure.”
One of the main stage speakers at the UK e-Health Week 2015 is Bryan Sivak, Chief Technology Officer at US Department of Health and Human Services.
Do you wonder about the US private company takeover of our NHS and social care services? Here’s more evidence that it’s steaming ahead.
Digital patient data management is central to the NHS shake-up plans that are happening in Calderdale and Huddersfield, as well as across West Yorkshire and the whole of the NHS in England and Wales.
There is information about this here.
By leaving the NHS and going to work for a private, American-owned healthcare data company, will John Rayner take with him information that is rightly privy to the NHS? What “revolving door” safety mechanisms if any are in place to make sure that John Rayner will not take NHS information from our Hospitals Trust with him into his new job with HIMSS-UK?
Plain Speaker is contacting CHFT to find out.
HIMSS isn’t the only US information/digital company muscling its way into Yorkshire/ the UK – earlier this year Plain Speaker reported that the American company, Public Consulting Group (PCG) acquired 100% of the share capital of shop4support for an undisclosed sum, in order to corner the UK market for “personalisation” of public services – in other words the delivery of public services through personal budgets.
shop4support describes itself as:
“the biggest social care e-Marketplace ever developed in the Yorkshire and Humber region”
It is promoted by Calderdale Council as the digital marketplace where Calderdale social care service companies and “shoppers” for social care can trade.This deal is PCG’s first acquisition outside the USA. PCG trades in the UK as PCG Advisory Services.
This is the link to info about HIMSS- UK.
This is the link to the Plain Speaker report on shop4support/PCG.
This is the link to info about the HIMSS-sponsored UK e Health Week 2015