Prioritising digital training for NHS staff

A digital divide also exists for NHS employees. The pace of new digital tools being rolled out across the NHS has resulted in some workers feeling overwhelmed.

Over half (61%) of respondents believe that digital skills are crucial to an extent for NHS staff. That’s because investing in digital tools is only one piece of the puzzle. The NHS workforce need the knowledge, expertise and confidence to make the most out of these tools, otherwise they risk going underutilised.

Training to ensure staff and end users have access to digital healthcare services has become critical. As technology has become more sophisticated, some professionals are unable to operate it efficiently.

^{Graham Walsh, Medical Director, Health Innovation}

86% of survey respondents support further investment in digital skills for the NHS workforce.

From our Public Sector Tech Untapped report, we found that 25% of healthcare respondents believe their teams don’t have the digital skills to use new technology or are resistant to the training required.

This is a cultural divide that needs to be overcome. There can be resistance to the adoption of tech solutions, particularly when they are perceived as achieving administrative goals at the expense of patients’ needs.

39% of health professionals don’t yet appreciate the importance of upskilling. This reluctance can hinder progress and make it harder to implement the kind of robust and routine training required.

One solution is to employ ‘Digital Champion Networks’ – whereby NHS organisations utilise early tech adopters from across generations with the specific aim of winning buy-in for technological transformation. Through peer-to-peer learning, these digital champions can help colleagues undertake digital learning, development or training.

The NHS doesn’t have to face this challenge alone. Tech partners are ready and waiting to support.

The Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust's digital transformation journey serves as a testament to how partnership can make this happen.

With our support, the trust embarked on a new digital strategy to replace their legacy tech, implement Software Defined-Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) cloud-based infrastructure and improve digital knowledge of patients and staff by creating digital hubs.

Better connectivity, digital education and smarter processes made all the difference: clinical staff saw improved application performance, were able to record and share patient information seamlessly, experienced improved job satisfaction and were empowered to provide quality patient care.

Key actions for
decision-makers:

Talk to your employees about how they use tech, where their resistances may lie and where the priority ‘quick wins’ are.
Identify ‘digital champions’ who can help bridge skills and access gaps across generations and gain buy-in for tech-enabled shifts.
Ensure staff are trained and confident with technology so that they see the value it can bring them and patients.