The appointment of Jules Hunt as interim director general for technology, digital and data at the Department of Health and Social Care could mark a pivotal shift in how the NHS approaches its long-promised digital transformation.
Hunt, a former PwC health services lead with earlier senior roles at IBM and Deloitte, now steps in as the national technology lead across both DHSC and NHS England. The timing is significant. With the new joint executive team under permanent secretary Sam Jones taking shape, and the 10-Year Health Plan entering a critical delivery phase. Hunt’s arrival introduces a distinctly corporate tone to the NHS’s digital leadership.
A chartered accountant by training, Hunt is known for bringing commercial rigour and measurable outcomes to large public sector programmes. His brief is clear: ensure that technology and data underpin every aspect of health system reform, and make sure the analogue-to-digital shift finally translates from rhetoric to reality.
That focus may prove crucial. Despite years of investment, digital maturity across NHS trusts remains uneven, and the gap between national ambition and frontline capability continues to frustrate progress. Bringing in a figure with experience of large-scale transformation from the consultancy world signals a move toward accountability and results, but it may also reignite tensions between central control and local autonomy.
The challenge ahead lies in turning strategy into usable tools that improve patient care, not just performance dashboards. For all the talk of federated data platforms and AI-driven insight, success will hinge on how well technology supports clinicians, reduces friction for patients, and integrates care beyond hospital walls.
Hunt’s appointment suggests the government wants delivery, not dialogue. Whether this heralds a more decisive era for NHS digital or simply another rebrand of ambition will depend on how far he can bridge the cultural divide between private-sector efficiency and public-sector complexity. Either way, the direction of UK healthcare is clear: technology is no longer the backdrop. It’s the main stage.
