Dr John Bibby appointed non-executive director of Osmosis

Leeds-based Osmosis, which develops software to capture online learning for doctor appraisals, has appointed Dr John Bibby as non-executive director.

Dr Bibby has been a GP at Windhill Green Medical Practice in Shipley and Baildon for the last 30 years with extensive experience in quality improvement, using IT to support doctors and doctor learning and appraisals. 

Currently the clinical lead for the North of England Appraisal Faculty, he has been involved with appraisals and revalidation for many years and, until the demise of the PCTs, was deputy medical director at NHS Bradford and Airedale PCT.  John took the lead for quality improvement training at the Improvement Foundation and has undertaken similar roles in Canada, USA and Australia.  He holds consultancy roles with Peaks Partnership and PwC to help design systems that meet patient needs.

Dr Simon O’Hara, GP and founding director of Osmosis said:  “We set up Osmosis to capture information about the websites that GPs use to research the latest on drugs, illnesses and epidemics – to help GPs demonstrate their learning for appraisals.

“GPs love it – but are now asking us to develop it further as a learning tool.  We’ve had three GPs in contact just this week with ideas and requests for software development.

“John Bibby has a wealth of experience in doctor learning, appraisals and using IT to help doctors.  We see our future not just as a software company but as a learning partner to the medical profession and John will help us to do this, through both his expertise and connections.”

A GP, trainer and appraiser, Dr O’Hara came up with the idea for Osmosis.  He was frustrated at how long it took him to remember and record all the learning he had done for his appraisal and approached a Leeds-based medical software development company to see if they could capture his online searches.  Osmosis was set up in 2012 with Simon O’Hara and software developers, Martyn Rainford and Stephen Iball, as founding directors and now has a support team of specialist experts.

Dr Bibby said:  “As soon as I saw Osmosis I loved it.  It fills an obvious need for GPs, but has the potential to become a critical tool in helping GPs learn and share knowledge.  The challenge is to develop this as quickly as doctors want us to!”

To see Osmosis in action go to www.osmosis.me