Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has appointed a new chief digital and information officer who will start next month. 

Dr Ben Attwood will start the new role at the hospitals trust in October.

Ben is currently divisional director for clinical support services at OUH.

Before taking up this role in March 2022, he was chief clinical informatics officer and associate medical director for technology and transformation at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.

He has spent the past 25 years in clinical training and practice with 10 years of experience as a consultant in intensive care and anaesthesia.

Professor Meghana Pandit, chief executive officer, said: "I am delighted that following interviews on 2 September I am now able to announce that we appointed Ben Attwood as our chief digital and information officer.

"I look forward to working closely with Ben in his new role in which he will lead the use and adoption of new digital technologies and approaches including AI, in order to enhance the working lives of colleagues and improve patient experience at OUH.

"Ben's clinical background will be a real strength in his new role as CDIO because there is robust evidence that transformation and improvement of services in healthcare environments is most effective when it is clinically led and enabled by technology and innovation."

Dr Ben Attwood said: "While my role will be focused on (but not limited to) digital and innovation themes which are essential elements of the Trust's mission, I am confident that my background as a clinician and senior medical leader will also strengthen the Trust in its aspiration to provide innovative world-class care."

Matt Harris, who has been acting chief digital and partnership officer since earlier this year, is leaving OUH on October 11 to take up a new job opportunity outside the NHS.