29 Years at the Intersection of Technology and Healthcare
I’m Sean Key — a Senior Digital Health Programme Manager who has spent nearly three decades navigating the NHS, private healthcare, and government sectors, helping organisations deliver meaningful change through technology.
I’m not a clinician. What I bring is something different: a deep, ground-level understanding of how digital systems actually get built, procured, deployed, and adopted across the full spectrum of health and care settings — from GP practices and ambulance services to acute trusts, mental health providers, and private hospital networks.
What I’ve Done
Over the course of my career I’ve delivered — and rescued — some of the more complex digital programmes in the NHS in the South East of England:
Radiology and Diagnostics I led the deployment of Sectra PACS across three NHS Trusts in Kent (EKHUFT, MTW and MFT), managing the migration of 300 modalities [X-Ray machines etc.], replacing 120 workstations and training 5,000 clinical users. More recently at Nuffield Health, I managed the deployment stage of a new LIMS system across 73 sites — Nuffield’s largest project at the time — serving around 250 pathology staff and 3,000 clinical users. I was one of 5 delivery managers on the project.
Urgent and Emergency Care At Brighton and Hove CCG, I set up a programme in 24 weeks to share GP detailed care records across urgent care settings — OOH, ambulance, walk-in, A&E and community — achieving over 80% Summary Care Record coverage across the population by target date. At NHS West and North Kent CCGs I managed a portfolio of NHS England Urgent and Emergency Care priorities, including direct appointment booking from 111 into UTCs, and the rapid rollout of AccuRx video consultation across 135 GP practices at the height of COVID-19.
Primary Care and GP Systems I have overseen the migration of 27 GP practices to EMIS Web, rolled out clinical decision support tools, online consultation systems and data sharing infrastructure across large CCG footprints. I’ve engaged GPs at PLTs and PCN meetings, built clinical advisory groups, and understand the practical pressures of general practice in a way that most programme managers don’t.
Interoperability and Connected Care At NHSX, I worked as an Interoperability and Connectivity Consultant within the Chief Digital Officer’s team, supporting TEC Virtual Wards during COVID and contributing to the work that led to the NHS Connectivity Task Force. I’ve worked extensively with NHS standards including FHIR, HL7, GP Connect, Spine Services, SNOMED, and more.
Mental Health At Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, I delivered what was the first use of EMIS Community for mental health KPI reporting and NHS Digital MHSDS submissions in England.
The Breadth of Settings I’ve Worked In
I’ve deliberately sought out different settings throughout my career, because I believe that understanding health and care as a system — not just as separate organisations — is what makes digital transformation work. I’ve worked in:
GP and primary care · Community services · Mental health · Acute trusts · Ambulance services · NHS commissioning · Private healthcare · Councils and social care boundaries · NHSX / national bodies · CSUs
That range isn’t accidental. Early in my career I experienced how fragmented systems made cross-organisational digital projects fail. So I made it my business to understand as many parts of the health and care landscape as I could.
How I Work
I’m certified in PRINCE2 (since 2002), MSP, and SCRUM, but I’m not religious about methodology. I use what works for the situation. What I am consistent about is being transparent with suppliers and stakeholders, bringing clinical and information governance teams in early, and treating risk management as a serious discipline — not a box-ticking exercise.
I’ve written DPIAs, Data Sharing Agreements, and drafted DCB0160 Clinical Safety documentation. I’ve facilitated Clinical Hazard workshops. I know what it takes to get a digital health project through governance, and I know what happens when that work gets skipped.
A Note on My Role
Everything I write and discuss here is informed by my professional experience as a programme and project manager in health. Working over time with 100s of clinicians has given me a broad appreciation of the risk and complexity of delivering health services.
If you’re commissioning digital health work, building a product, or navigating a complex programme, that perspective can be genuinely useful.
Hear Me Talk About My Work
In this interview with IT Works — specialists in the diagnostics recruitment market — I talk through how I got into the diagnostics space, what it’s really like managing a large-scale LIMS deployment as a non-clinician, how I approach psychological safety and team culture, and where I see AI taking diagnostic services next.
▶ Watch the interview on YouTube
What Colleagues Say
“Sean is an excellent programme manager, able to grasp complex and granular details on a wide range of projects simultaneously and switch between them at pace without introducing confusion. Sean is also an excellent communicator, and is able to present topics and data to a wide audience. A results-driven go-getter, I enjoy working with Sean.”
“When I worked with Sean he knew how to get things done and get the best out of people and was a great personality to work with.”
— Recommendations from Sean’s LinkedIn profile
Career Highlights at a Glance
| Period | Organisation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–present | Nuffield Health | Delivery Manager — LIMS & PACS/RIS |
| 2022–2023 | EKHUFT / MTW / MFT, Kent | Programme Manager — PACS Replacement |
| 2021–2022 | Camden & Islington MH Trust | Digital Project Manager |
| 2020–2021 | NHSX | Interoperability & Connectivity Consultant |
| 2018–2020 | NHS West & North Kent CCGs | Interim Digital Programme Manager — GPIT |
| 2016–2018 | NHS Medway CCG | Interim Head of GPIT |
| 2013–2014 | Brighton & Hove CCG | Urgent Care Informatics Programme Manager |
| 2009–2011 | NHS City & Hackney PCT | Transformation Programme Manager |
| 2004–2005 | NHS Sussex Ambulance Service | Head of ICT |
| 2002–2004 | NHS South Downs Health | IM Programme Manager |
Earlier career includes senior roles at Network Rail, Virgin Atlantic, Centrica/British Gas, and the Environment Agency.
PRINCE2 Practitioner · MSP Practitioner · Certified SCRUM Master