New information governance board announced

Members of the new National Information Governance Board for health and social care in England, the body who will be responsible for ownership of the Care Record Guarantee have been named by the Department of Health

Chair of Connecting for Health’s Care Record Development Board (CRDB), Harry Cayton will continue as the new chair of the National Information Governance Board (NIGB), taking with him the nine final recommendations of the CRDB.

Joining Cayton on the board are: Edward Briffa, head of learning at BMJ Publishing; Sir Rodney Brooke, chairman of the General Social Care Council; Della Cannings, a retired chief constable and Wayne Cleghorn, a senior legal officer with South Gloucestershire Council.

Also chosen by the Appointments Commission are: Penny Hill, information strategy manager at Warwickshire County Council; Dr Nadeem Khan from Sutton and Merton PCT; Hilary Newiss, a retired solicitor; Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild of Wimbledon Synagogue and Dr Michael Wicks, senior forensic medical examiner for the Metropolitan Police.

They will be joined by stakeholders from 11 medical organisations including the BMA, NHS Confederation, Royal College of Nursing, UK Council for Caldicott Guardians and the Patient Information Advisory Group.

Additionally, they will receive correspondence from nine organisations including the General Medical Council, Medical Defence Union and NHS Employers.

Reporting annually to health secretary Alan Johnson, the board will ‘provide leadership and promote consistent standards for information governance across health and social care.’

It will also arbitrate on the interpretation and application of information governance policy and give advice on matters at national level. These include paying particular attention to issues around children and their parents in relation to electronic care records, the production of a Social Care Record Guarantee, and the formation of stronger commitments to patients regarding the security of the HealthSpace website.