Ynez Symonds, Chief Nursing Information Officer, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust  

For Ynez Symonds, digital transformation isn’t about technology for its own sake. It’s about giving time back to the people who need it most. 

As Chief Nursing Information Officer at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Ynez leads the clinical side of digital change across community, mental health and specialist services. Her work spans some of the most significant programmes in the Trust’s digital journey, including Ambient Voice Technology, Electronic Patient Record implementation, and the broader cultural shift towards confident, safe digital working. 

But Ynez’s philosophy is refreshingly grounded. “For me, analogue to digital isn’t about introducing new technology,” she says. “It’s about removing duplication, reducing burden, and making work simpler for staff, meaning they have more time to deliver patient care.” 

That belief shapes everything she does. Rather than designing digital solutions in boardrooms and rolling them out to frontline teams, Ynez is committed to building change with staff and patients, not for them. Clinical safety, practical usability, and genuine benefit are non-negotiable. 

The results are already tangible. Ambient Voice Technology is reducing the burden of manual note-taking, improving the consistency and quality of clinical records, and freeing up clinician time for direct patient care. Across community, mental health and specialist services, digital foundations are being laid carefully and collaboratively. 

“If we are going to provide high-quality care for everyone, and make sure this is sustained, then we have to change how we work,” Ynez reflects. “Getting the digital foundations right is fundamental to this.” 

Ynez’s work is a powerful demonstration of the analogue to digital shift in action: not just adopting new tools, but transforming how care is delivered, recorded and experienced by everyone it touches.