New Academy to train digital healthcare leaders of the future

Three of the world’s top universities will provide masterclasses in leadership and digital as part of a comprehensive programme to provide NHS staff with the right skills to drive digital innovation.

The NHS Digital Academy, led by Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation in partnership with Harvard Medical School and The University of Edinburgh, will open for applications in September.

The Academy is part of the NHS’ wider plan to simplify access to care online or otherwise, ensure NHS hospitals are taking advantage of improvements in digital technology and increasing the skills of NHS staff so it can seamlessly adopt new technology and systems to improve patient care.

A virtual organisation, the Academy will provide expertise for clinicians and health managers who are delivering an ambitious programme of digital innovation in the NHS, including how to use new technology to improve patient care and experience, and to deliver efficiencies.

It is predicted that 300 candidates will pass through the NHS Digital Academy, each spending up to a year studying part-time.

It will support the existing work taking place via the Building a Digital Ready Workforce (BDRW) National Information Board (NIB) programme, delivered in partnership by NHS Digital, Health Education England and NHS England, and will be the first time there is a national structured development programme in change management/leadership and clinical informatics.

The Academy was borne out of Professor Wachter’s review of IT in the NHS which highlighted the need to develop a workforce of rained ‘clinician-informaticists’ at Trusts, and strengthen and grow the CCIO field.

It will be seeking accreditation from the Federation of Informatics Professionals (Fed-IP) and the Faculty of Clinical Informatics (FCI).

Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary, said: “If the NHS is going to have world-class IT systems we need a major programme to spread global best practice – and this links three of the best universities in the world to do just that.

“The Academy will ensure the next generation of NHS leaders is well equipped with the most exciting innovations that deliver the best care available to patients everywhere.”

Matthew Swindells, National Director of Operations and Information at NHS England, said: “We want the NHS to be a world leader in the use of digital technology helping to drive improvements in patient care and to make our organisations more efficient.

“This pioneering academy will provide healthcare leaders with the right skills to tackle some of the most challenging problems facing the NHS.”

Lord Darzi, director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial, said: “We want to build a vibrant, self-sustaining community of inspired leaders who will drive NHS digital transformation. We have an unrivalled record of using academic rigour to translate ground-breaking research into digital health solutions and we have assembled a world-class team to develop the NHS Digital Academy.

“Our operational team and faculty are already in place and we have a clear plan for the launch. We will ensure participants graduate with an international outlook and network.”