Qualifications 

• BA (Hons) Degree in Law 

• Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC) 

• IBITGQ UK General Data Protection Regulation Foundation 

• IBITGQ UK General Data Protection Regulation Practitioner 

• Prince 2 Foundation and Practitioner 

• Diploma in Leadership and Management 

Key skills 

• Strategy and planning 

• Change management 

• Continuous improvement/efficiencies 

• GDPR application 

• Project management

Experience 

• Leading the Information Governance (IG) service delivery team containing 15+ IG specialist consultants to deliver services to multiple integrated care boards, primary care and NHS trust clients, along with independent clients from other sectors 

• Building an IG function and team ‘from scratch’ including developing the appropriate service model to deliver across the largest health service provider geographical area in the country. 

• Operational and strategic leadership of corporate services including IG, IT, finance, audit and risk, clinical planning and people services. 

• Development and implementation of a health service provider digital strategy and 10-year implementation plan including project management. 

• Data Protection Officer (DPO). 

Following working as a Legal Advisor for the CAB, Charlotte spent nine years working in Australia for the Government of Western Australia (WA), first in their Legal Services Division for two years and then moving into the Department of Health. Charlotte spent four years as the Information Governance Lead for the largest health service provider in WA before moving into a more overarching role as Principal Consultant for Corporate Services for three and a half years leading the operational and strategic management for IG, IT, finance, clinical planning, audit and risk and people services. Charlotte has been with the NHS Midlands and Lancashire (ML) IG Team for two years which means in total, she has worked in IG for over a decade. Over the past two years Charlotte has lead the team post management of change from supporting clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to ICBs and successfully expanded NHS ML’s client base to include multiple trusts, providers and primary care services whilst managing IG consultants and the delivery team. 

Qualifications

• IBITGQ UK General Data Protection Regulation Practitioner

• Freedom of Information (FOI) Level 2

• Data Protection Level 2

• MSc Public Health and Health Promotion

Key skills

• Explaining complex information governance (IG) issues in an understandable way

• Data Protection Officer (DPO) advice and guidance

• Freedom of information (FOI) and subject access request (SAR) knowledge

• Team improvements and efficiencies

• Knowledge and experience from both an acute and a commissioning NHS background

Experience

• Team management for over 20 IG specialists

• Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) management and support, including liaising with internal departments to further explain the requirements and with auditors to discuss and review submitted evidence

• Liaising with both third-party suppliers and other NHS clients to understand services, products and needs

• Provision of a DPO function to both NHS ML and customers

• Extensive working knowledge of FOI and SAR

• Over 15 years of NHS experience

From a primary care trust, to acute trusts in different parts of the country, and then to a large commissioning support unit, Helen has gained NHS and IG experience in variety of settings. Now as Strategic IG Lead for NHS ML, Helen oversees a team of over 20 IG specialists who provide an IG service to NHS ML itself, but also to our customers and our FOI and SAR customers in particular which include ICBs and NHS trusts. Helen worked with the team during the change from CCGs to ICBs to ensure a smooth transition. The implementation of the IG hub model in Helen’s team means customer queries are processed in the most efficient and timely manner, and regular reviews of our internal processes help to ensure this is maintained.

Helen plays a significant part in NHS ML's DPO function, providing an objective view point on topics such as breaches, Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), or system implementation.

Helen provides reports to NHS ML and customers in a format that clearly explains IG topics and work programmes in an understandable format, including where efficiencies for processes have been found.