Boost for NHS digital transformation pioneers

Thirty-seven NHS staff leading digital transformation projects are to get support from a 12-month fellowship programme.

The Digital Pioneer Fellowship scheme supports NHS changemakers in London and the south east to design and lead digital transformation projects. 

Of the 37 new digital pioneer fellows, 24 are women and roles range from IT and admin staff to clinicians.

Diverse mix

Sara Nelson, deputy programme director of DigitalHealth.London, which runs the fellowship scheme, said: “It’s exciting to see such a diverse mix of people – from project managers, service managers and analytics staff, to pharmacists, physiotherapists and psychologists, plus health professionals such as nurses, dentists and doctors”. 

The fellows will be part of an action-focused learning community and will join workshops and other events with sector experts.

The pioneering projects include:

• A digital eHub to triage patients seeking an appointment at a medical centre. The system helps decide who should get a telephone or video consultation and who should be seen face-to-face. The project will be lead by Dr Annie Murphy, a GP at Wide Way medical centre in Mitcham

• Brighton and Sussex University Trust Lead Digital Nurse Johanna Kelly will oversee a project to replace dated communication tools such as bleeps with a secure messaging app that will also support patient content messaging, task management, handover, alerts and referrals

• An initiative by ENT specialist registrar Dr Katrinia Mason involves the application and development of Artificial Intelligence delivered telephone conversations. It helps staff triage suspected head and neck cancer patients at St. George’s Trust in south west London.

• A Digital Care Homes project which expands the use of digital technology to provide remote care and monitoring to care home residents, including those with COVID-19 symptoms. Project lead: Mark Needham, director of contracting at NHS Kent and Medway CCG

• The London Care record and the Personal Health record programmes at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ aim to transform ways of working for professionals and improve the way local residents interact digitally with the health service. The initiative is lead by Angela Poland, head of digital programmes (South East London)

• Khooosh Seewooruttun, digital health lead nurse at South London and Maudsley Trust, is working on an ePMA system (electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration) to replace paper prescriptions.

• The My Health Guide app helps adults with a learning disability manage their care and share information with carers, relatives and healthcare staff. It records information in word, photo, audio and video format. Project lead: Richard Fitzgerald, academic clinical fellow in special care dentistry, Barts Health NHS/Queen Mary University

For more information and a full list of fellows click here