Technology & Information

HIN Technology Theme

The Technology team aims to spread high quality, well designed technology throughout the NHS and other health and social care partners, by sharing our own skills and those of our network. We work with NHS Trusts and Providers, Commissioners, Councils, National Bodies, SMEs, other AHSNs and accelerators.

Our team’s core capabilities include:

Identifying policy trends and implications
Understanding members’ and clients’ needs and priorities
Horizon scanning the technology landscape
Technical and implementation knowledge
Technology evaluation

Our team has a range of academic, commercial and technical expertise.

HIN Informatics Theme

The Informatics team supports the full range of work underway across the HIN to provide specialist expertise in data analysis, database design and management, quantitative evaluation and statistics. The team also offers this expertise to support members across south London as part of the HINs Change Support offer.

1. Data analysis

The informatics team is comprised of data analysts with the full range of skills needed in order to interpret data including; data cleansing, data manipulation and data modelling. The team works with a broad range of datasets to draw meaningful insights from data and inform projects. Benefits for projects include identifying population health needs and monitoring whether projects are having the desired impacts through regular quantitative outcome data. The can also produce visual analysis including graphs, tables, geographical heat maps and interactive dashboards.

2. Database design and management

The team has expertise in developing bespoke databases to store and analyse data for a project or service and tools for collecting and storing data in a consistent way that will reduce the level of data entry errors that occur, including design of Access or Excel databases.

3. Quantitative Evaluation

The team specialises in collecting and analysing outcomes data that help to understand if an intervention/ innovation has been effective. The team has skills across all stages of quantitative evaluation including designing evaluation methodology, developing structured surveys, data collection, monitoring response rates and data analysis, including tests of statistical significance.

4. Statistics

The team has specialist expertise in applying advanced statistics to a range of datasets. Statistical methods are used to apply tests of statistical significance, develop risk stratification and other predictive models, evaluate outcomes and look for relationships within data.

The Team

Denis Duignan

Head of Technology

Denis graduated as a biomedical engineer in Ireland and worked for a medical devices supplier before joining the NHS Scientist Training Programme and becoming a registered clinical scientist working within Guy's & St Thomas’ medical physics department as a medical devices specialist. Since then Denis has undertaken a Darzi Fellowship within NHS England where he worked on improving cancer diagnostic pathways and currently leads the Technology team at the HIN, providing technical knowledge and expertise around medical software and hardware development, deployment and governance, ICT and change management.

Paul Wallace

Clinical Director, Digital

Paul is a retired GP and Professor Emeritus of Primary Care at UCL has clinical academic career spanning more than 30 years. He is a founding member of the European Society of General Practice/Family Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Faculty of Public Health Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians. In 2013 he was awarded the RCGP President’s Medal.

Jonathan Darley

Senior Project Manager

Jonathan graduated from Imperial College London with a Masters degree in Physics. He worked as a management consultant for IMS Consulting Group (now part of IQVIA) for 5 years, supporting pharmaceutical companies, financial institutions and healthcare NGOs with commercial and research projects. Following this, he worked as a manager in an NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, identifying and implementing technology-focused healthcare services. Jonathan joined the HIN in March 2019 as a Senior Project Manager, where he leads on projects for NHS Trusts, Commissioners, Councils, and other organisations.

Polly Sinclair

Lead Analyst

Polly Sinclair is the Lead Analyst in the Information Team. Prior to this she worked as Project Manager in HIN's Health Ageing and Patient Experience teams. She also has experience working in a joint commissioning team across Richmond Council and CCG and has worked as a social researcher.

Breid O'Brien

Director of Digital Transformation

As well as a Masters in Nursing and an MSc in Healthcare Informatics, Breid has extensive experience in improvement and digital transformation and a clinical and operational management background in acute care. She has supported major system level change and has a strong track record of delivering complex programmes of work. An Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Advisor, Breid is especially interested in the people, process and technology interface.

Amber Gibney

Senior Data Analyst

Amber studied English and Drama at Trinity College, Dublin, but is now about to complete a second degree in Maths and Physics. She has worked in a variety of data related roles in academic clinical research. When not messing about with numbers, she is usually triathlon training, at a moderate speed.

Phoebe Blackney

Project Support Officer & Data Analyst

Phoebe graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in Human Physiology, and worked as a physiologist in private healthcare before joining the Health Innovation Network. She joined the Health Innovation Network as a Project Support Officer, and now provides project support and data analysis for the Technology and Informatics teams. Through her work at the HIN, she has supported a number of projects including qualitative evaluation of GP Online services, blueprinting of digital transformation projects and supporting the creation of digital resources. Outside of work, she enjoys climbing, yoga and travelling.

Gemma Dakin

Project Support Officer

Gemma graduated from the University of Leeds in December 2017 with a BsC in Adult Nursing. Prior to joining the Health Innovation Network in 2019, Gemma worked as a Registered Nurse in the Major Trauma & Orthopaedics Centre at the Leeds General Infirmary. Gemma now works as a Project Support Officer in the technology team, assisting with health-technology focused projects. Gemma continues to work one day a week as a Nurse, allowing her to provide a timely, realistic and critical insight into how technology is being used in practice today.