Helen Thomas

Helen was appointed as the CEO of Digital Health & Care Wales in 2021, having spent the previous year as the Interim Director of the NHS Wales Informatics Service, leading the organisation’s impressive response to the Covid-19 pandemic, supporting the NHS in Wales to adopt data and digital advances at pace and scale, whilst at the same time leading the organisation as it transitioned to a Special Health Authority on 1st April 2021.

She joined the NHS Wales Informatics Service as Director of Information in 2017 and has been instrumental in supporting the improved quality and use of data in healthcare and the development of the new National Data Resource – the NDR.

Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Information at Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board, with responsibility for setting the strategic direction for data and digital and providing the information needed to evaluate service delivery and to support service improvement and transformation.

Helen began her career in the NHS over 30 years ago, initially working in finance, moving into health information in 2000, gaining wide health informatics experience across a number of senior roles over the last 20 years. Helen has an MSc in Health Informatics from Swansea University and is a leading practitioner of the Federation of Informatics Professionals, a fellow of the British Computer Society and a Professor of Practice at University of Wales Trinity St David.

Helen was named DigitalHealth Digital NHS CEO of the year 2022.