Sir Jonathan Michael, a clinician and former chief executive of three NHS trusts is to be appointed as chief medical officer (CMO) of 6PM, a provider of clinical workflow, healthcare logistics and information management software solutions.
Sir Jonathan has had a long and varied career, working for many years as a consultant nephrologist before moving into hospital management. He has been chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.
During his career he has always had a keen interest in the contribution IT can make to healthcare, and spent three years as managing director of BT Health before taking on his role at Oxford. He currently sits on the board of trustees for health and social care think tank, The King’s Fund.
As CMO for 6PM, Sir Jonathan will help to further develop the company’s existing portfolio of solutions, currently present in over 150 NHS trusts that support the NHS’ clinical quality and efficiency ambitions outlined in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View .
He said: “The future challenge is going to be to redesign the way we deliver healthcare so that it’s more focused on being responsive to what patients need. That means we need to be able to share information, not only within the health and social care system, but with patients.”
He added that he chose to work with the company because of its ability to respond to those changing needs.
“What I like about 6PM is it's an innovative, growing, yet-flexible organisation – it's focused, it’s committed to a limited number of sectors, and it can develop and adjust things very quickly, so it is responsive and agile.”
6PM’s portfolio of solutions include iFIT, a multi-purpose tracking and business management solution; StrokePad, a digital clinical record specifically designed for stroke patients; Climate–HIV, a specialised electronic patient record (EPR) system for HIV medicine; Lilie, the market-leading clinical management system for use by discrete or integrated sexual health and contraceptive and rhealth services; ConCERT-D, an electronic patient record designed specifically for the treatment of dementia patients; and CareSolutions, a data management and processing engine.
Ivan Bartolo, chief executive of 6PM, said: “What makes Sir Jonathan unique is that, besides being a clinician, he is highly experienced in hospital management. So, while he appreciates and understands and embraces the need for patient safety and quality care, he also understands with a high level of business acumen the importance of financial management within the hospital environment.”
Sir Jonathan’s particular skills are an excellent match for 6PM’s vision, he added.
“The appointment provides a marriage between our agility, our speed to market, and his understanding of what is really needed by the health system to deliver business benefits.”
