A newly formed collaborative of Filipino nurses working in informatics and digital health is holding its inaugural public event on 8 May 2026, bringing together practitioners whose careers sit at the crossroads of nursing and technology.
The Filipino Informatics Nursing Collaborative, known as FINC, will host a free online webinar titled Leading with Purpose: Filipino Informatics Nurses Shaping Digital Health from 10:00 to 11:15 AM British Summer Time. The event doubles as the organisation’s formal launch and is open to Filipino nurses globally, though its primary audience is Filipino nurses based in the United Kingdom.
The programme opens with an address by Louie Horne B.E.M., National Nursing Officer at UNISON — one of the UK’s largest trade unions — and a figure with more than 25 years of NHS experience. Horne currently serves as Vice President of the Filipino Nurses Association UK and Chair of the Filipino Senior Nurses Alliance UK. She was the first Filipino nurse to join NHS England as a Workforce Race Equality Standard Clinical Research Fellow, and has received the British Empire Medal, the Silver Chief Nursing Officer Award, and recognition in HSJ’s 50 Most Influential BAME Leaders list.
The keynote will be delivered by Shella Sandoval, who holds a BSc in Nursing from St. Paul University Manila and an MSc in Healthcare Leadership from the University of Birmingham. Sandoval serves as a Chief Nursing Information Officer and Digital Clinical Safety Officer, and is identified as the first Filipino to hold a CNIO role in the UK. She is also the only Filipino recipient of the Nye Bevan Programme Executive Healthcare Leadership Award and sits on the Digital Health CNIO Advisory Panel as an elected member, alongside an advisory role with the Care Quality Commission.
The webinar programme also features five additional members of FINC’s core team: Roda Luz “Dang” Trinidad, an Informatics Advanced Practitioner; Robylin Tweetie Diya, a Senior Systems Specialist; Fernando Pilpil, a Transformation Manager; April Murillo-Fianza, a Research Nurse; and John Tristan Pahuyo, a London FDP Delivery Manager. Their segment is billed as an introduction to the team’s individual roles, professional journeys, and organisational commitments.
FINC describes its founding purpose as connecting and developing Filipino nurses working in or interested in informatics, with the broader aim of raising the community’s profile within digital health leadership. The collaborative can be contacted at finc.online@gmail.com, and registration for the webinar is available at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/leading-with-purpose-filipino-informatics-nurses-shaping-digital-health-tickets-1988444128917.
Sandoval’s work, as described in FINC’s materials, centres on the advocacy of nursing informatics and the responsible adoption of digital technologies in healthcare settings.
