Key points
CDO, NHS
Townsend left TfL in October last year after more than five years as CIO, which followed a near-five year stint as director of information management at London Underground. He has also worked at Carphone Warehouse and Centrica, and served 16 years in the British Army as a communications specialist.
Townsend then became a director at Ashton Beeches Consulting, a niche consulting company which aims to drive thought leadership across the information, customer, operational and engineering technology sectors.
Now chief digital and information officer at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, on his appointment CEO Amanda Pritchard said he brings "an impressive combination of technology and leadership skills to the trust, and has demonstrated how these can be harnessed to realise strategic goals".
