Sir Jonathan Michael, a distinguished 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 during October 2015. 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.
Sir Jonathan 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, CEO 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."
The ability to understand and respond to customers' needs is a crucial part of 6PM's philosophy. Steve Wightman, deputy CEO of 6PM, said: "One of our strengths is our ability to see where people might be heading and then creating solutions so they're ready for them when they get there."
The company works with clinicians to identify their particular pain points, so that it can develop solutions that free them to concentrate their efforts on patients rather than on routine administrative tasks.
An ageing population and increased patient expectations have put modern healthcare systems under increasing strain, and 6PM believes technology is crucial in helping the NHS meet those expectations while keeping costs down.
Solutions are sharply focused on delivering tangible savings rather than soft savings. The company's iFIT product, for example, which tracks and manages a trust's records process, brings a return on investment within eight to 16 months.
Sir Jonathan will be able to help 6PM deliver those savings even more effectively, said Wightman: "He really understands how a clinician needs to work on the ground, and he can also help us see from a level above that. He bridges the gap between what clinicians want and what the business wants."
Sir Jonathan Michael: a biography
Sir Jonathan qualified as a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Medical School. In 1980 he was appointed consultant physician and nephrologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and honorary senior lecturer at Birmingham University, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1985.
In the 1990s, he moved into hospital management, first as clinical director, then medical director and finally chief executive of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust.
In 2000 he took the post of chief executive of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Trust, which under his leadership became one of the first wave of foundation trusts in the NHS.
Sir Jonathan was knighted in the New Year's Honours in 2005 for services to the NHS and was elected Fellow of King's College London in recognition of his contribution to the relationship between the health service and higher education.
In 2007, Sir Jonathan became managing director of BT Health, before joining Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust as chief executive in 2010.
About 6PM
6PM was founded in 1996 by Maltese entrepreneur Ivan Bartolo, and 10 years later 6PM Management Consultancy (UK) Ltd was set up in the United Kingdom by Alan West Robinson and Steve Wightman. The two companies were brought together under 6PM Holdings in 2007.
The company, which employs over one hundred and seventy technology consultants, specialises in providing software tools that automate as much routine clinical work as possible, freeing up clinicians to spend more time with patients. 6PM is also a leader in logistics and information management products for health.