Arshad Takun

Arshad Takun

Please note this page was last updated in 2019. Visit Arshad’s LinkedIn profile for more information.


Arshad graduated from Brunel University with a Mathematics degree. After which he decided to pursue his interest in being part of the change within the health sector.

Arshad’s career spans a variety of Primary Care organisations including CCG, General Practice, Primary Care Networks and currently he is part of the GP Federation leading a digital transformation programme within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.


Digital Pioneer Fellowship project: Improve digital access for residents within the borough of Tower Hamlets

With the rise of digital solutions, there is a current trend of the ‘young and healthy’ cohort registering onto external apps, and automatically de-registering from their local General Practice. The largest age group in the borough are those between 25-35 years old, and they are digitally savvy. If patients continue to register onto these digital services, this poses a greater risk to the sustainability of General Practices.

There are additional pressures on GP surgeries that technology can support an improved outcome for including:

  • Staff retention and recruitment;
  • Capacity and efficiency to improve health outcomes;
  • Demand on clinical and non-clinical staff.

The aim of the project is to improve digital access for residents within the borough of Tower Hamlets. Arshad is scoping out the requirements of a digital tool in the form of a mobile application and this will incorporate the following, amongst other functions:

  • Appointment booking at their registered Practice
  • Virtual consultation with a GP via smartphone
  • Access to local healthcare services within the borough

The digital innovation project will be implemented across the borough, accessible by patients registered within 36 GP Practices, with a total population size of 350,000.

The desired impact is to increase capacity and reduce demand within General Practice. Through implementing this project, service users can have more ownership over their health by:

  • Having increased access to their Practice,
  • Seek medical advice more conveniently,
  • Access health and lifestyle services locally, leading to improved health outcomes.

The impact of this will reduce pressure and workload on Practice staff. By introducing video consultation this will improve remote access for GPs to allow for greater flexible working.


“I joined the Fellowship programme because I had started a new role and a large part of my work was implementing digital solutions across GP surgeries. I was searching for support with implementing technology at scale.

Working on the Tower Hamlets Health Club involved working with multiple projects at a variety of different stages, to develop and scale up across GP Practices. This work was invaluable; dealing with challenges and not losing sight of the benefits to both staff and patients.

The elements of the programme that were of most value to me were my brilliant Action Learning Set, inspiring keynote speakers and networking. One of my mentors has helped me understand the importance of different audiences when presenting to and engaging stakeholders.

The Fellowship programme supported me personally and professionally, giving me more clarity in terms of my career growth. At the start of the programme I was a Project Officer and became a Project Manager. I think more strategically now. Driving change is still a big development area for me and understanding more how to story-tell the benefits is something I’d like to continue to improve on. Digital health and digital inclusion have become a passion of mine.” – Arshad Takun