Permanent chief digital nurse for England named
Helen Balsdon has been named as permanent chief nursing information officer (CNIO) for England.
Ms Balsdon announced on social media on Friday (27 September) that she would be taking on the role substantively, after serving as acting and then interim CNIO since the end of 2022.
“Delighted to share I’m now the permanent CNIO,” wrote Ms Balsdon on X (formerly Twitter).
“I am dedicated to grow the voice and skills of nurses and midwives in digital and data to achieve the ambitions set by the NHS Long Term Plan.”
She succeeded Professor Natasha Phillips, who was the first person to hold the national CNIO role and formally stepped down in 2023 after three years in post.
Ms Balsdon worked as Professor Phillips’ deputy CNIO, having previously worked as a digital leadership fellow at the now-defunct NHSX.
Before that, she was CNIO for Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, after a stint as the trust’s lead cancer nurse in the early 2010s.
As national CNIO, Ms Balsdon acts as the figurehead for digital nursing in England.
The post is is part of chief nursing officer Duncan Burton’s team at NHS England and leads on matters related to technology and data strategy.
Ms Balsdon’s responsbilities include developing the digital nursing and midwifery professions and scrutinising the digital products and services used across the health service.
The appointment of a permanent CNIO comes as the new Labour government has made it one of its priorities to transform the NHS from “analogue to digital”.
