Announcing a New Director for a New Directorate
6 November 2024
Primary Eyecare Services welcomes Andrew Atherton as our Digital Transformation Director.
The creation of this new directorate reflects our commitment to driving innovation, enhancing efficiency and achieving our long-term strategic objectives. It marks a significant step towards transforming how we operate both in terms of improving our internal IT systems and contributing to a higher quality patient experience.
We are an organisation that has always prioritised data analytics as a tool for informed decision making. As such, we recognise the need to adopt a digitally led approach to facilitate our sustained growth and success, dovetailing with key business drivers such as scalability, compliance and MIS requirements.
CEO Dharmesh Patel is delighted that Andrew has joined the team, commenting:
‘We are thrilled to welcome Andrew to lead this pivotal area of work. His outstanding track record of success within the NHS and forward-thinking approach makes him the perfect fit to drive forward our very ambitious goals.’
Introducing Andrew Atherton
Andrew joins us from Gloucestershire NHS Trust and brings nearly twenty-five years of experience in large-scale digital transformation within the healthcare sector. He is currently prioritising engaging with everyone across the organisation to better understand what they need in terms of digital tools and support from his teams. He very much sees digital technology as an enabler – one that is not imposed but developed in collaboration with, and under the guidance of, everyone using our systems. He is keen to meet with all our teams and user representatives to understand their specific IT needs and requirements.
Speaking of his first impressions here, Andrew is very positive about the digital progress we have made to date, saying:
‘The organisation has already laid the groundwork for digital functionality and clearly understands the art of the digitally possible. This is a ground-breaking time for Primary Eyecare Services. I’m excited to be here and proud to be part of shaping the organisation’s future direction.’
Moving Towards New Horizons
Andrew is currently finalising a strategy that will enable us to harness our digital technologies effectively, creating a more agile and responsive organisation. He is focusing on several key components, including leveraging data warehousing for enhanced data management, developing sophisticated analytics tools for deep insights, interoperability and automating various organisation-wide processes to improve efficiency.