Senior information centre official to depart

The organisation declined to comment on why Max Jones, who appeared in front of the health select committee in May to face questions about the Care.data programme, was leaving or where he was going.

A spokeswoman for the information centre said: “The director of information and analytics, Max Jones, is leaving [the information centre] to follow other career opportunities.

“The [information centre] wish him well in his future work.” 

It is not yet clear who will replace Mr Jones.  

• Roundtable: Where should Care.data go from here?

Mr Jones gave evidence to the health select committee earlier this year alongside the body’s chair Kingsley Manning and has held a key role in deciding how the body manages the release of potentially identifiable patient data under data sharing agreements.

Mr Jones’ departure follows a period of unprecedented scrutiny for the organisation amid the furore surrounding attempts to implement the Care.data data base programme.

The organisation commissioned Sir Nick Partridge, one of its non executive directors, to carry out a wide ranging review of how it was using and disseminating its vast array of patient information, much of which is patient identifiable data.

The information centre pledged in June to carry out “a series of steps to guarantee greater openness and reassurance to the public, stricter controls over data use, and better clarity for data users”.

A six month progress report is due to be discussed at the organisation’s board meeting in Bristol on 26 November.