Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB’s Digital Inclusion Delivery Framework has outlined a “bold and unified vision” for tackling digital inclusion, based around five themes: connectivity and access to devices and data; digital accessibility and information literacy; workforce digital skills and confidence; partnerships; and digital inclusion knowledge and expertise.
The ICB commits to using analytics to better understand digital inclusion barriers and gaps, both in the workforce and wider population. User-centred design and co-production will inform all digital projects to ensure accessibility and usability, and a focus will be placed on those experiencing the greatest health inequalities. Improved digital connectivity and accessible public services will add to economic prosperity and social equity, it continues, and clear and inclusive communication will help improve understanding of digital health capabilities and benefits.
Recognising the barriers presented by low connectivity and digital and data poverty, plans for the ICB include raising awareness of free Wi-Fi offerings, embedding device hubs offering access to technology in local communities, communicating social broadband tariffs and national offers of device or data banks, and exploring device recycling. Other aims cover collaboration with community-based organisations, understanding the digital support landscape, and developing a Digital Inclusion Network to share advice and guidance.
Efforts around tackling digital accessibility and information literacy will look to collaboration with expert partners on developing workforce expertise in delivering accessible health information, the ICB explains. Opportunities will be explored to extend public understanding of where to find trustworthy health information, access barriers such as language and vision will be looked at for how they relate to people’s experiences of digital, and the range of digital applications the public is expected to use for health and care purposes will be simplified and reduced.
For the workforce, the ICB notes ambitions to assess digital capabilities and confidence, include relevant digital skills training for inductions to “ensure they become essential competencies”, promote opportunities through training providers to enhance digital skills, and develop tiered approaches that allow staff to build capability from basics to advanced levels.
To achieve a digitally confident public and workforce requires digital inclusion to become a “collective responsibility”, according to the ICB. For this to happen, a focus will be on embedding the Digital Inclusion Coordinator model across place-based partnerships, supporting integrated neighbourhoods, and ensuring consistency in support for both individuals and teams. A system-wide digital champion forum will be established, recruiting local volunteers to offer peer support, and public-facing roles like social prescribers and community connectors will be trained in digital tools such as the NHS App to be able to confidently support others.
By March 2027, all organisations across the system will have a digital inclusion action plan in place and collaborations will have begun with external partners on building workforce expertise, the ICB’s roadmap shares. By 2030, the ICB hopes to explore options for device hubs in community settings, consider options for device recycling to support local communities, map the digital support landscape, have in place tiered approaches to digital skills development, and become a “national exemplar” for digital inclusion.
“As an ICS, we are committed to tackling digital exclusion through strategic and collaborative efforts that focus on the five key priority themes and supporting actions for digital inclusion delivery,” Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB states. “Initiatives will be shaped through active engagement with local communities, close collaboration across organisations, and intelligent use of data and evidence. We aim to ensure our actions deliver measurable impact and remain sustainable over the long term.”
Wider trend: Digital inclusion, digital skills, and digital confidence
For a session exploring best practices around building workforce digital literacy and skills, HTN was joined by an expert panel from across the health sector, including Shanker Vijayadeva, GP lead – digital transformation in primary care, London Region, NHS England; Neill Crump, associate director for innovation and partnerships at The Dudley Group and Sandwell and West Birmingham; and Rebecca Ellis, associate director for education at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
£11.7 million in funding is to be granted to 80 digital skills and support schemes under the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, designed to help those at risk of being left behind by digital to access online services. Funding is also being split across Scotland (£764,020), Wales (£400,368), and Northern Ireland (£267,249), to “ensure this is a UK-wide digital inclusion drive”, the government notes. Funding recipients cover organisations such as Age UK, Good Things Foundation, Sheffield United Community Foundation, and Women’s Aid Federation of England.
South Yorkshire ICB has launched three digital strategies designed to modernise services, strengthen cyber resilience, and empower its workforce with digital skills to continue to deliver safe and effective care. The ICB sets out planned actions in its digital workforce and skills strategy, including the creation of professional networks for digital training colleagues to support the sharing of resources, and a review of current training programmes. It also plans to look at current approaches to the assessment of digital skills across the system, with the intention of better matching training to individual needs and role requirements. Partnerships will be explored with education providers to support training demand, and a system-wide digital skills training plan will be developed to support delivery.
