Michael Bone (1970-75)
I was a pupil at Orwell Park between 1970 and 1975. Today, I am the Director of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH). GOSH is the world’s leading hospital for children and specialises in providing advanced treatment for children with rare and complex diseases.
As well as being a centre of excellence for hospital care, GOSH is also a leading centre for research, working closely with the University College London (UCL).
Upon arrival at my office I switch on my laptop and also a second computer that runs a programme that monitors all of the networks, servers and systems across the hospital. As the hospital computers are critical, GOSH (like many hospitals) has two of everything; this way should something fail there is no disruption to our services.
Today I have an early meeting with the Genomics team to discuss the storage of DNA sequence data. We use DNA data to look for anything unusual which may aid us in identifying what is wrong with a sick child and how we might help to make them better. The meeting is designed to plan the storage of DNA information for the lifetime of each of our patients. After the meeting I have 30 minutes to prepare, as my next event is a presentation to a group of visitors from Norway. The presentation to the Norwegian teams start with an overview of our funding and how we use money from our Chief Finance Officer. I talk about our strategy, including what computer systems we have now, what we plan to purchase new, what we need to upgrade and what is to be replaced or decommissioned. After lunch I spend an hour writing a briefing paper for the Trust Digital Strategy and Transformation Group (DST). The DST Group is responsible for the strategic direction of Information Management, Technology and Transformation services for the hospital. The paper covers the technology required to store images at GOSH and to be able to share them with other authorised healthcare organisations around the world. My next task is a business meeting to discuss the procurement of new data centre facilities.
At present all the computers at GOSH are housed in one main computer room and several smaller backup rooms around the hospital. However, as the demand for computers to support both clinical care and research continues to grow so the space we need to house them also grows. Working at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is challenging, often tackling complex issues, yet highly rewarding.
The Trust motto is “The Child First and Always” and I am often reminded that, although I hold a senior position within the organisation, I am but a small cog in a far larger machine.
This piece was originally included in the Autumn 2014 newsletter. Michael is now Chief Information Officer at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) in Bury St. Edmunds, one of the leading digital hospitals in the UK.
