Philip Walker, Data Protection Officer

Phil has over 25 years’ experience in the health sector. As a Department of Health (DH) policy lead, he introduced information governance into the NHS and wrote the Code of Practice on confidentiality. Working across government, he represented health in the crafting of the 1998 Data Protection Act and more latterly, the GDPR. From 2005 to 2010, he was Head of Digital Information Policy at NHS Connecting for Health. After the 2012 Health & Social Care Act split central responsibility for information-related work among DH, NHS England, NHS Digital and Public Health England, Phil was instrumental in creating the Information Governance Alliance, which provides a collegiate 'hymn sheet' for advice and guidance. Since leaving DH in 2016, Phil has established himself as one of the UK’s leading Data Protection Officers.