Patrick Highland

Technology and Innovation Manager

Digital Department at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

Biography: Patrick has over 30 years of experience in technology and finance. His career began within the banking and insurance sectors as an accountant and running teams of IT professionals to service enterprise-level applications. For the last 9 years, Patrick has worked within the NHS at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and currently reports to the Chief Innovation Officer as the Trust’s technology in his roles as innovation manager and IT business partner. His role involves identifying opportunities for innovation and championing the implementation of new technologies, building strong partnerships with medical professionals to understand their unique challenges. Patrick helps to design technology solutions that empower them to provide exceptional patient care, bringing strong financial and business acumen in his collaborations with clinical and administrative leaders – both internally and within the wider ICB and ICS landscape – to develop technology strategies that support patient-centric care, regulatory compliance, and cost efficiency.

South West London ICL Digital Pioneer Fellowship project summary: The Trust is expanding its Genomics capability and requires a suitably robust and dynamic infrastructure to complement the service. The Trust services its Genomic clinical and research needs through its use of infrastructure owned and managed by the Institute of Cancer Research. To ensure effective, round-the-clock Genomics capabilities, the Trust must exit the existing relationship and establish its own infrastructure. The project is seeking alternatives that deliver efficiency at scale, round-the-clock clinical coverage and integration into the Trust’s Trusted Research Environment. There is also an alternative project that will seek to develop an Open Source e-rostering capability for the NHS.

Estimated number of patients / staff impacted by the project: Patients: thousands. Staff: 50.

Goal(s) for time on the South West London ICL Digital Pioneer Fellowship: Patrick aims to connect with peers, influencers, and mentors, and engage in expert-guided workshops and events that afford him the opportunity to learn from others to socialise innovative technology solutions across the health and social care network to improve patient outcomes and the employee experience.