Health Education England (HEE) is promoting a new pilot scheme that hopes to equip NHS leaders with greater digital skills, awareness and understanding.
The Health Innovation Placement (HIP) Pilot, provided through HEE’s Digital Readiness Programme, is intended to increase know-how across the NHS workforce and to offer health leaders opportunities for professional and personal development.
HEE notes that ‘the influx of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT)’ is ‘revolutionising clinical and working practices’, and therefore, ‘those charged with leading transformation and change’ must be ‘equipped to horizon-scan, understand and evaluate new innovations and best practice’.
It’s hoped the pilot will ‘bring a new mindset to addressing NHS transformation challenges’, encourage staff to embrace digital solutions ‘as the norm’, provide ideas suitable for participants’ day-to-day working, and create a network of leaders who are ‘dedicated to driving change’.
HIP will link up leaders with startups and SMEs, and will also see them lead on the development of a solution to an NHS problem, as well as learn how to develop and ‘extract’ the opportunities that are available through innovations.
The year-long pilot is set to start in early 2022 and requires part-time commitment from participants.
NHS leaders will receive around 100 hours of education events, workshops and masterclasses, as well as placements in SMEs. Designed to fit around different schedules and learning styles, the scheme will involve 10 x 1.5 days of direct education at evenings and weekends, as well as around two hours of time per month with senior mentors.
Aimed at both clinical and non-clinical leaders from across the NHS, the pilot is seeking between 10-20 applicants who are ‘keen to broaden their experience’.
Interested parties must submit expressions of interest by 8 December 2021, with the selections for the pilot expected by the end of that month.
To submit an expression of interest, or find out more about the official application process, visit the HEE website or email digitalreadiness@hee.nhs.uk.
