Helping the NHS to unlock the power of its data, ReStart Consulting Ltd has been a leading provider in the world of interoperable digital care services in the health and care ecosystem since opening its doors in 2004. Trusted by more than 65 NHS Trusts, its combination of an innovative IMX platform and deep interoperability see organisations across the NHS and beyond empowered at every turn. Lynette Ousby, ReStart’s CEO, sat down with us for more following her recognition here in this programme.
Lynette Ousby is the woman at the helm of ReStart Consulting, a specialist healthcare technology consultancy working primarily with NHS organisations to guide them through complex digital transformation in a way that is safe, sustainable, and grounded in the real-world clinical environments staff operate in every day.
“Our work sits at a critical point where technology and patient care meet”, Lynette told us. “We support NHS trusts through programmes such as electronic patient records, legacy system retirement, data archiving, and large-scale integration. These are not just technical projects, they are moments of significant operational change, where access to accurate information and system stability directly impact clinical decision-making processes and patient outcomes.”
Like the NHS itself, the team here have a presence across the UK, with ReStart’s base in Lancashire being only a stone’s throw from NHS England’s headquarters in Leeds, thus underpinning this synergy. The work between the two bodies intensifies during periods of pressure and transformation, and ReStart Consulting very much sees its goal as being to ensure that the necessary modernisation of the NHS’ services does not come at the cost of continuity or care.
The work carried out by this consultancy is there to enable healthcare professionals to access the information they need at the time they need it, reducing administration time and freeing up their focus for patient care. Beyond this noble aim, Lynette believes that what sets ReStart apart is its approach. She shared: “We are not there to deliver technology in isolation; we work alongside our clients as long-term partners, ensuring that what we build is practical, sustainable, and genuinely improves the environments in which clinicians operate.”
As the CEO of ReStart, Lynette is responsible for ensuring that the consultancy remains aligned with its purpose of delivering meaningful and measurable outcomes, as well as setting its direction as it continues to drive digital transformations in this ever-evolving landscape. Lynette also plays a huge part in shaping its strategy, supporting its teams, and maintaining strong relationships with all of its clients.
Her experience across all of these avenues has been shaped by a diverse career in leadership, with performance and accountability defining every role she has inhabited. For example, in her first major role, Lynette was responsible for delivering significant financial improvements during what was a highly challenging economic period.
Exploring this in more detail, Lynette said: “In my first major leadership role at GE Capital, I led a team that reduced bad debt by 79% within 12 months, releasing almost £8 million in profit that had been tied up in reserves.” As a result, she received the ACE Award and was recognised as one of its best employees at just 23 years old, a remarkable achievement.
This immediately taught her the value of resilience, clarity, and decisive leadership, three things she continues to leverage to this day when building high-performing teams, strengthening culture, and delivering results that are meaningful on both commercial and operational levels, all of which are ReStart mainstays.
More than this, these experiences have reinforced Lynette’s long-held belief that the best leadership is not just about outcomes, it is about how they are achieved, the environment in which they are achieved, and creating opportunities for others along the way. The latter is a key focus area across our International Businesswoman Awards, with women still facing a number of challenges when it comes to securing senior leadership roles, especially in the male-dominated world of tech.
Nevertheless, since starting out in this space, Lynette has seen a noticeable shift in the visibility and recognition of women within it. There is greater opportunity than before, as well as more awareness and conversation than there was previously. Yet, we are in a period of transition, and whilst entry is more accessible than it once was, there are still barriers to leadership. These mainly involve the expectations placed on women, especially balancing professional ambition with personal responsibilities such as childcare and family life.
Lynette has experienced all of this first-hand, having achieved consistent delivery, fostered strong commercial outcomes, and built high-performing teams alongside being a wife, a mother, and a daughter. “The demands of leadership are constant”, Lynette told us, “but so too are the roles that exist outside of work.” What makes striking this balance tough is the unspoken expectation that success in a senior role means being fully absorbed in a career, leaving no time or energy for a personal life.
Interestingly, Lynette is bucking the trend by championing the opposite, and she cites the responsibilities she carries outside of ReStart as having made her a better leader. What makes all of this rewarding for Lynette is not the benefit this has had on her, but rather the wider impact on those whose lives she has touched. This includes the employees of her consultancy, all of whom she aims to support.
“I have always believed that leadership carries a responsibility to create opportunities for others, not just achieve outcomes.”
Lynette has also dedicated a lot of her time to investing in initiatives that support young people from underprivileged backgrounds looking to explore pathways into STEM, with this arising from her awareness that talent is widely distributed but opportunity is often not. She added: “Success becomes far more meaningful when it creates space for others to succeed.”
Shifting gears to the next stages of both her career and ReStart more broadly, Lynette is aware that the demand for solutions across areas including healthcare data integration and system optimisation is only set to increase, making the work the team here carry out in these environments even more critical than it is today.
To this end, Lynette explained; “Our focus is on continuing to support NHS organisations through this evolution, strengthening our capabilities while maintaining the principles that define us. We want to remain a trusted partner, not just delivering solutions, but helping organisations navigate change with confidence.”
Long term, the aim for this CEO is to grow her consultancy in a purposeful and sustainable way, all whilst being aligned with the needs of the NHS and the wider healthcare sector. Ultimately, as she shared with us in closing: “My goal is not just to grow a successful business, but to build something that is sustainable, responsible, and meaningful, both for the organisations we support and for the people who are a part of that journey.”
Recognised as the Healthcare Data Solutions Business Leader of the Year 2026 (North West England) as a result of her dedication to this aim, Lynette Ousby’s role at the head of this leading NHS digital transformation consultancy has seen measurable advancements made concerning everything from data archiving and legacy system retirement to ERP transition support, data migration, system optimisation, and more. Further details on all of this work can be found at ReStart Consulting’s website below.
Contact Details
Contact: Lynette Ousby
Company: ReStart Consulting Ltd
Web Address: https://restartconsulting.com/
