Creating the right
door, not just the
front door.
About us
Sami Nur has been on a mission to improve healthcare through digital transformation since joining the NHS in 2007. Witnessing the escalating crisis in Emergency Departments across the country and COVID-19 leaving a backlog of patients set to rise to 7m by 2025, he felt compelled to make a difference.
Together with tech entrepreneur Edd Royal, they founded Opto in 2022 with a shared drive to disrupt urgent care using intelligent software. With a band of emergency care and digital experts, Optoʼs team sees the transformation of urgent care its own emergency.
Meet The Team
Sami Nur FRSA
CEO & Co-founder
Sami has over 15 years of NHS and private digital health leadership experience spanning public health, commissioning and digital transformation.
Sami is an NHS Innovation Fellow, an expert in the digital health sector and an advisor to a number of health ministries and healthcare organisations globally. Sami is completing a part time Masters in Healthcare Data from the University of Cambridge.
Edd Royal
CPO & Co-founder
An energetic entrepreneur with an insight into emerging digital technologies, Eddʼs passion for business process and detail, and his excitement about innovation lie at the heart of Optoʼs creation.
Edd has worked extensively in tech, as CTO of Canada-based FinTech Axius Global and running his own London based digital agency for over 6 years working with global brands including Google, Stripe, Papa Johnʼs, Unilever & Worldpay.
Krista Burslam-Dawe
COO
With over two decades of global experience in acute nursing, Krista brings a wealth of expertise and a passion for innovation to her role as Chief Operating Officer at Opto Health. Her efforts have played a pivotal role in enhancing patient accessibility and optimising patient flow within each Emergency Department she has worked in.
Previously serving as the Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care at a prominent health tech organisation in the UK, Krista led dynamic clinical pathways and spearheaded the continuous development and implementation of their product across the NHS.
Krista's extensive background in leadership positions and her dedication to pushing the boundaries of digital triage solutions are driving positive transformation in emergency care on a global scale.
Dr Kevin Enright
Chief Clinical Officer
Kevin is a Consultant for both adult and paediatric emergency medicine at St George's University Hospital in London. He also works as a helicopter emergency medicine services consultant for Kent, Surrey & Sussex.
Kevin has previous experience in digital health, leading on clinical governance and patient safety using technology within a healthcare environment. He previously was the clinical lead for Major Trauma at Sidra Hospital, the paediatric hospital in Doha Qatar. He has also chaired the Pan London Paediatric Major Trauma Group and has published many articles in major journals about emergency medicine and complex cases.
Chris Burslam-Dawe
Director of Implementation & Strategy Delivery
Chris joined the Royal Navy straight from school in 2001 and trained as a Submarine Warfare Officer, serving on submarines all around the world conducting numerous operational patrols. After leaving the Navy Chris started a new career as a Management Consultant working for a variety of high profile consultancies. Over the next 15 years he delivered many technology and business transformation programmes for Blue Light, Intelligence, Central Government and Rail clients.
Alongside the development and implementation of our strategy Chris will lead and oversee the end-to-end delivery of our capability and ensure our service exceeds our customer’s expectations and requirements.
Max Freeman
Clinical Director
Max’s clinical career began aged seventeen as a Hospital Assistant at Eastbourne, now, with over twenty-two years of experience working in healthcare, Max has developed a passion for patient flow.
Max discovered his passion during his time working at Kings College Hospital, one of the busiest trauma centres in the UK, where he gained extensive knowledge and expertise in patient triage, moving on to be the Head of Nursing for Community Care for Newcross Healthcare Solutions.
As our Clinical Director, Max will be leading the clinical governance, development and assurance of Opto Health.
Elliot Higgins
Product Quality Assurance Lead
Elliot has over a decade of experience in management as a Live Music Tour Manager for bands, liaising between record labels, artist management, musicians, and international promoters for every aspect of a touring production.
Prior to this, Elliot was the first employee at biodiesel start up Green Energy Plantations Ltd, managing previously deforested land and abandoned palm oil and rubber plantations. This involved developing farming techniques to improve germination and growth rates for various oil seed plants.
Elliot will lead on the quality assurance of our product ensuring compliance with accessibility and readability for a seamless patient experience.
Aasiya Jilani
Product & Project Assistant
Aasiya is a computer scientist who loves looking at all things Artificial Intelligence. Her academic journey has drawn her into areas like machine learning, data analysis, and software engineering. She's driven by AI's incredible potential to shape our future and the limitless possibilities of algorithms. She innovates by adding a creative twist into technology that comes her way and she's dedicated to crafting imaginative and impactful experiences. Her aim at Opto is to automate a system to make it easier for all users, assist on quality assurance and provide support in ensuring our products meet our customers in the best possible way.
John Arriola
Director of Global Business Partnerships
With an extensive track record of developing and managing business partners and large corporate accounts John has established significant long lasting business relationships throughout his career.
With more than 20 years’ experience in IT, he has gained a wealth of skills, knowledge and expertise across a number of industries (IT, Unified Communication & Industrial Automation, Cloud Services) and has developed his multi-cultural experience and expertise across EMEA which has resulted in significant incremental revenue growth for companies. He is highly motivated and has met and exceeded aggressive goals and targets.
