Chris Richmond has been appointed Principal Clinical Consultant at digital consultancy, Answer Digital.
The former Head of Delivery at NHS England will provide clinical input into healthcare projects, initially focusing on AI, interoperability, and virtual wards.
Richmond has 30 years of clinical experience in the NHS, including 23 years as a frontline paramedic, before moving into policy and innovation.
He was credited for leading on national projects including service design for NHS 111 and new payment models for the New Models of Care programme.
Richmond also developed a £977 million model for enhanced health in care homes.
He was also the national innovation lead at NHS RightCare, where he helped to scale innovations that were improving outcomes and efficiencies.
Chris Richmond said:
“Just as NHS 111 was transformational for the NHS, AI is a major catalyst for change, if delivered correctly.
“I look forward to providing clinical safety input and evidence-based approaches to support the implementation and scale of the most effective AI-enabled technologies.
“I really respect the ethos at Answer to nurture their teams and to do the right things the right way.
“There are few national and regional digital transformation projects that Answer haven’t been involved in, so I’m very excited to put my technical expertise to the test and help develop solutions that are safe and effective, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.”
Richmond joins Answer Digital from NHS England where he scaled the first COVID-19 technology-enabled virtual ward.
He was instrumental to the virtual wards programme, developing guidance on information governance, procurement and clinical pathways, and working with the NIHR to gather evidence on the impact of virtual wards.
Richmond also supported the development of an evidence-based benefit strategy for digital innovations and supported the creation of tools for innovators to articulate their benefits.
Answer Digital launched 23 years ago to deliver digital transformation across health and care settings.
The company worked with NHS England on the virtual wards interoperability strategy, developed an AI Deployment Engine (AIDE) with the AI Centre for Value Based Healthcare to enable trusts to deploy AI models into clinical workflows, and oversaw the implementation of the National Genomic Information System into live service across the country.
Gary Parlett, Founder and CEO, Answer Digital said:
“Chris is an allied health professional at heart, with improving the lives of patients informing everything he does.
“We appointed Chris for his drive, national-level healthcare experience and analytical thinking, which will be valuable to help our NHS partners improve their digital capabilities and embed best practice, whether it’s on legacy tech projects or at the cutting edge of innovation.”
Outside of health technology and data, Richmond was a trustee for a mental health charity, supporting people recovering from mental health problems.
He also reviews cases for a Use of Force Scrutiny Panel in South Yorkshire, providing a clinical view on the application of force used by the police, to reduce the potential inequities experienced by those with mental health issues.
