Hello, my name is Dawn.

I have the pleasure of leading the Digital Programme across West Yorkshire and line managing the WY Digital Team.  With 7th September marking my 30th anniversary of working in the NHS, I thought it would be a great opportunity to reflect on some of the changes I’ve seen, with a look at what the future holds.

Dawn GreavesI started my NHS journey working in the Personnel Department (now known as Human Resources).  My work as an Office Junior meant I had a variety of jobs to undertake.  I was lucky to have the use of a computer with WordPerfect 5.1 installed.  Getting my head around using a computer rather than a typewriter, as I’d done in high school, was quite a shock.  I quickly got to grips with it and soon loved it.  Over the years, as software developed, Microsoft Word was introduced.  I now had to get to literal grips of using a mouse for the first time.  Luckily the old WordPerfect shortcut keys still worked, so I easily adapted and still continue to use a lot of the quick shortcut keys for common activities such as making text bold with Ctrl B.  I do love a shortcut!

I developed a real interest in using the computer and often helped other people in the team when they were struggling.  This encouraged me to apply for a post in the IT Training Department, where I was responsible for teaching other people how to use the Microsoft products but also using some of the core hospital systems.  This role was very rewarding, there was always something new to learn and having the ability to show other people how to get the best out of the tools they had available to them, really enthused me. 

It was shortly after I moved into this role that emails and the internet were rolled out to every member of staff in the Trust.  We were offering face to face training for thousands of members of staff on the basics of even switching a computer on, to being able to send/receive emails and browse the internet.  There were lots of people who were very unsure of using computers, some who even refused to use them at first.  I really relished the times where people had walked out of the training room really happy and enthusiastic about what they’d learnt.  Especially when they then registered for further training to advance their skills. Since then, there have been many changes across the digital agenda with the implementation of electronic patient records, electronic prescribing and ordering of investigations.  The use of technology is part and parcel of most roles within health and social care now.  In fact, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, digital has never been so vitally needed. 

The publication of the new Digital Health and Social Care Plan consolidates the different national digital goals and investments detailed in separate sector strategies and guidance into a single action plan for digitisation.  The plan sets out clear direction for the future.

So how can we continue to grow and thrive…

Digitising social care records

Ensuring social care providers are capturing data digitally about their residents is proving essential.  Not only this but ensuring other health and care professionals can see this data and the care providers can see information from other health care settings. This will ensure there is easy access to information at the point of care and increase efficiencies and safety for all residents.  Our local authorities are working with their care providers to progress this work.

This links well with the implementation of our regional shared care record, the Yorkshire, and Humber Care Record.  We are focussing on sharing information from our hospitals in the first instance but will be expanding this out to other health and care providers over time.

Putting NHS services in the pockets of our populations

Ensuring more people have access to the NHS App with the ability to view their electronic record.  Create more opportunities for using wearable technologies such as blood pressure monitors and sensors.  Ensure professionals see a more holistic view of patient metrics, but by providing the summary data from these applications, we can ensure people make more informed choices and keep themselves well. 

Digital foundations

Ensuring our organisations continue to follow the national standards set around digital, data and interoperability is crucial.  Continuing to be resilient to prevent cyber-attacks and providing faster connectivity for all health and care providers to enable them to make the most of the digital tools available to them. 

Building digital skills

Older person using an iPadNot only focussing on the technology transformation that needs to happen, but a vital element is to ensure we develop the digital literacy of our workforce and future workforce.  Working with partners in the education sector will help to develop relevant learning materials/courses that are suitable to the health and social care workforce.

These are just some of the key priorities for the digital agenda to give you a flavour of what’s to come.  As I’m sure you can imagine, this can’t be delivered by just the WY digital team.  We rely on our organisational digital teams, who are working extremely hard to progress with a variety of digital initiatives.   We are also forming collaborations with colleagues in the Innovation and Improvement Hub and the Research and Development Programme, to ensure we make the best of our collective resources.  These teams of people do some tremendous work and none of this could materialise without their skills, expertise, and capacity. 

Thank you for reading.
Dawn