Karen Payne is a qualified nurse and Specialist Public Health Practitioner (Health Visiting) with more than 30 years of experience across the NHS. Her career has spanned emergency medicine, health visiting and commissioning, giving her a broad understanding of healthcare from both frontline and strategic perspectives.

For the last seven years, Karen has focused on digital transformation, driven by a belief that technology can make a real difference to the experiences of patients and the working lives of healthcare staff. She is passionate about ensuring digital innovations are practical, inclusive and designed around the needs of those who use them.

Karen is a graduate of both the NHS Digital Health Leadership Academy and the prestigious Topol Fellowship, becoming the first nurse to complete both programmes. These experiences have strengthened her commitment to helping nursing shape and lead the future of digital health.

In February 2026, Karen left the NHS to take up the role of the Royal College of Nursing's first UK Nursing Information Officer. In this pioneering position, she works to ensure that nursing has a strong voice in the development and use of digital technology, while supporting nurses to confidently embrace the opportunities that digital innovation brings.

At the heart of Karen's work is a simple ambition: to use digital technology to improve care, support staff, and help create a better healthcare system for everyone.