Beverley Bryant, director of digital transformation at NHS Digital, will depart the organisation after nearly a year in the role.

She leaves to become, on 1 August, chief operating officer at health software specialist System C, as well as its sister company Graphnet Care Alliance, after the boards are joined.

Bryant joined NHS Digital in June 2016 after NHS England was restructured to create the organisation. She recently missed out on the role of chief executive after Sarah Wilkinson, then chief technology officer at the Home Office, was selected to replace Andy Williams upon his retirement.

Prior to the creation of NHS Digital, Bryant worked at NHS England and played a key role in securing the £4.2 billion funding commitment for NHS IT in the 2015 spending settlement.

She has also previously held senior roles at private sector organisations, including managing director at Capita Health.

Markus Bolton, joint chief executive and founder of System C and director of Graphnet, described Bryant as the “leading light” of healthcare informatics.

“It is now time to drive forward the roll out of mobile clinical and digital excellence solutions and extended shared care records across the UK. There is a lot of work to do and Beverley will make a huge contribution to our capacity and capability at a board level,” he said.

Bryant commented: “The System C and Graphnet Care Alliance stand out for me because they work across the whole health and social care economy.  They have real drive, a substantial user base and an excellent delivery record.”