Meet the Team

Click on the names below to learn more about our team:

Jonas Eichhöfer

    Role: Chief Clinical Information Officer

    About: I am a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since 2009 and took on the role as Chief Clinical Information Officer in 2020.

    My educational milestones include graduation from Friedrich Wilhelm University Bonn, Germany in 1993 followed by a PhD in Medicine. My training in General Medicine was completed at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, UK, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Guys and St Thomas’ in London UK. My specialist training in Cardiology at John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford, UK, Manchester Royal Infirmary, UK and Toronto General Hospital, University Hospital Network, Toronto, Canada.

    I am a Member of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society, The Chartered Institute for IT and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Cath Jukes

    Role: Clinical Change Facilitator

    About: I have been working with the Digital Health team since January 2020 (having worked in the Trust as an Advanced Orthoptist for over 20 years). My role involves working with teams to identify and implement digital solutions, as well as helping to develop an innovation framework within the Trust.

    I have a special interest in research and innovation to improve patient care and would like to support others on this challenging journey. I am also a trained Clinical Safety Officer (CSO), helping to verify the safety of new technology implemented within the Trust.

    My passion for innovation continues in my own time. A few years ago, I challenged myself to pursue an innovation idea - to design and develop a new medical device. This led to further development and research during a PhD at the University of Sheffield. I have also been fortunate enough to join the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme.

Ann-Marie Kitt

    Role: Head of Digital Education

    About: I have 29 years' experience working in education, training and development in both the public and private sectors. Having worked in the NHS for more than 20 years, I have gained expert knowledge in the design, delivery and management of education and training.

    As Head of Department, I lead digital education programmes aligning to local, regional and national digital strategies and agendas, ensuring the workforce has the knowledge and skills to use information technology and information systems to maximise the benefits of IM&T products and services. This includes facilitating the growth of career development and progression for the Health Informatics workforce.

    I feel privileged to lead a team of professionals who are passionate about supporting our workforce, who produce quality, engaging training programmes and who provide support to all our staff.

Helena Palin

    Role: Deputy Chief Clinical Information Officer

    About: I am registered Nurse with 30 years’ experience working in acute and community services specialising in the care of the older person. I am also an associate member of the Chartered Institute for IT.

    In 2018, whilst Ward Manager at Clifton Hospital, I worked with Trinity Hospice to establish a weekly palliative care virtual ward round, enabling palliative care specialist nurses to review patients and provide expert advice and guidance to myself and ward staff using an iPad and video calling technology.

    Following the success of this project I became the Digital Nurse Champion for the Digital Health Team and also a certified Clinical Safety Officer (CSO). I have acted as the CSO on a number of projects and have seen first hand how important it is to have experienced and knowledgeable clinical staff at the centre of the clinical risk management process.

Katie Selby

    Role: Business Change Facilitator

    About: I have seven years’ experience in NHS roles with six years spent at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals. Prior to my NHS experience I had a varied career in both the public and private sector specialising in customer relationship management and stakeholder engagement.

    I joined Digital Health in 2018 as the Business Change Facilitator and in that time I have worked on a number of exciting digital change projects including enabling patient and relative video calls during the Covid-19 pandemic.

    My recent work has included supporting Speech and Language Therapy to make a change to their dysphagia pathway, engaging with key stakeholders to write the Digital Clinical Risk Management policy for the organisation and increasing the usage of health and care information videos in clinical services.

    I am passionate about implementing digital change in health and care to benefit patients and our citizens.

Veronica Southern

    Role: Digital Health Clinical Lead

    About: I have been part of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals for 33 years, with the majority of the time spent working as a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT).

    I moved into Digital Health eight years ago after developing a remote swallowing assessment project I led in the SLT Department. I lead the Digital Health Team for the organisation and work predominately on building a digital-ready workforce and helping clinicians use digital healthcare.