[8] He started his career as a journalist and went on to co-found Dr Foster in 2000,[9] an organisation for publishing comparative hospital death rates and other measures of health quality.
The Department of Health's acquisition of 50% of Dr Foster in 2006 was strongly criticised by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, which described it as "favouritism"[10] and a "hole and corner deal".
Kelsey is author of Dervish: The Invention of Modern Turkey, a portrait of the country in the mid-1990s which was published by Hamish Hamilton in 1996 and Penguin Books the following year.
It revealed widespread variation in adjusted death rates between English hospitals and was the first time such a comparative measure of quality had been published for a national health economy.
Alan Milburn MP, then secretary of state for health, told the BBC in response to the publication: "The NHS has acted like a secret society.
[25][26] Since 2001, Kelsey has overseen publication of a series of similar consumer guides to individual hospital consultants,[27] maternity services,[28] and complementary therapists[29] among others.
[31] In 2006, a public body - the NHS Information Centre - purchased 50% of the company and Kelsey became chair of the Executive Board of the new organisation – Dr Foster Intelligence.
[32] Besides publishing information to the public, Dr Foster Intelligence also provides analytic services to around 85% of NHS hospitals in England and works with health organisations in Europe and the US.
The project, an online information service which publishes comparative data on NHS performance and is designed to promote greater patient choice in healthcare, launched in 2007.
[38] Kelsey left Dr Foster in May 2010 and joined McKinsey & Co where he led development of information strategies in international public services, based in London.
Committee chair Edward Leigh commented "The seeming degree of favouritism in the choice of company and the haste with which the deal was concluded show a disregard for the rules governing the use of public money".
[43] In 2008, the former head of the NHS Information Centre, statistician Denise Lievesley, claimed to an employment tribunal that she had been made a "scapegoat" for the Dr Foster deal in 2007 despite repeatedly highlighting concerns about the joint venture's worth.
In May 2011, Kelsey was asked by the British government to direct national policy on Transparency which is core to Prime Minister David Cameron's vision for public service reform.
[45][46][47] In January 2012, he left McKinsey to take up a full-time post as Britain's first Executive Director of Transparency and Open Data, based in the Cabinet Office.
[48] Kelsey argues that Transparency has the potential to enhance accountability, choice, productivity, and quality of service delivery; transform citizen participation in government; and drive economic growth.
In April 2012, the UK became co-chair with Brazil of the Open Government Partnership,[57] a global initiative involving more than 50 nations and international civil society to promote transparency and citizen participation.
In October 2014 the Five Year Forward View stated that 'harnessing the information revolution' was a key priority for improved quality and cost effectiveness in the NHS.