Anne Cooper joins the Highland Marketing advisory board

Well-known digital nurse leader @AnnieCoops looks forward to joining a leading forum for debate on the big issues shaping health tech and the digital health industry

Highland Marketing has welcomed a digital nurse leader to its advisory board of NHS IT professionals and health tech industry experts.

Anne Cooper, known as @anniecoops to her many social media followers, has joined the expert group that acts as a forum for the discussion of issues affecting digital health, and provides advice to the agency and its clients.

Anne helped to develop the NHS’ first, nurse-led telephone helpline, NHS Direct, and went on to hold senior positions at the Department of Health Informatics Directorate, NHS England, and NHS Digital. 

She retired as deputy clinical director and chief nurse at NHS Digital in 2018 and turned her attention to consulting and supporting SMEs with a social remit.

She is chair of Ethical Healthcare Consulting CIC and works with Thrive by Design a multi-disciplinary team hosted by Leeds and York Partnership NHS  Foundation Trust who specialise in inclusive co-design projects and programmes.

She is also a non-executive director of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Anne acknowledged that with so many calls on her time, she thought carefully before agreeing to join the Highland Marketing advisory board.

However, she said: “I wanted to be involved because of the quality of the people on the board. I wanted to stay connected to some of the big brains in the industry, to have the chance to debate the issues of the day with such a knowledgeable and influential group, and to have some fun in the process.

“I love talking to people and I’m convinced it’s the only way to get a real understanding of the challenges that are facing healthcare and the role that technology can play in addressing them.

“I see the advisory board as a think-tank or sounding board for doing that, and for helping Highland Marketing and its clients to positively shape the health tech industry so it can deliver the innovation the NHS so badly needs.”

Susan Venables, co-founder and client services director at Highland Marketing, said: “We have watched and admired Anne’s work for many years, and so it is excellent to have found an opportunity to recruit her to the advisory board.

“Our longstanding ambition is to find ‘health tech to shout about’ and to communicate it to the people working in health and care who need it.

“That ambition is as relevant as ever, as the health and care system emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic to face a new set of challenges; from addressing waiting lists to implementing new models of care.

“Anne’s perspective as a nurse and as a long-standing advocate for technology that works for healthcare professionals and patients alike will be fascinating. We’re looking forward to some robust debates and some frank advice about how to shape the digital future.”

The Highland Marketing advisory board meets regularly to discuss issues around healthcare IT. It also acts a sounding board for the agency’s content, marketing and PR teams and for strategic clients.