Digital Pioneer Fellowship: Announcing the 37 new NHS Fellows

Thirty-seven NHS staff leading digital transformation projects to be supported by DigitalHealth.London’s Digital Pioneer Fellowship.

Today, DigitalHealth.London announces the 37 NHS staff who have been successful in gaining a place on the third year of the Digital Pioneer Fellowship. The programme supports change makers employed by NHS organisations in London and the South East to design and lead transformation projects underpinned by digital innovation. As the NHS continues to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, digital innovation remains vital to the health and social sector. This year the Digital Pioneer Fellowship programme is funded through sponsorship from Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd (BI)* – the programme content and delivery is controlled by DigitalHealth.London.

The 2020/21 cohort of Fellows come from organisations spanning London and the South East, and represent a diverse range of roles, departments and levels within the NHS. Eighteen are administrative staff (including an engineer, IT/informatics staff, project and programme managers, innovation/transformation leads and a service manager), eight are Allied Health Professionals (including pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists and a speech and language therapist), six are medical professionals (including a dentist, an emergency medicine doctor, a GP, an oncologist, an otolaryngologist and a psychiatrist) and five are nurses (including digital lead nurses and one CNIO).  Thirty percent of the cohort identify as BAME which is a relatively high proportion when comparing to the latest overall NHS workforce statistics which show that for NHS staff whose ethnicity was known, 79.2 percent were White (including White ethnic minorities), and 20.7 percent were from all other ethnic groups.

The 37 Fellows will be part of an action focused learning community, focusing on accelerating the pace of digital transformation within their respective NHS organisations. Over the 12-month programme, the Fellows will have access to workshops, resources and events throughout the year to share challenges and experience, learn from experts and collaborate to co-design solutions.

They will hear from and be given the opportunity to ask questions of leading sector experts during taught modules on subjects ranging from change management and business case development to agile delivery and service improvement. Fellows will also be able to choose a mentor and be grouped into action learning sets with other Fellows working in similar environments on digital transformation projects.

Sara Nelson, Deputy Programme Director of DigitalHealth.London and Digital Pioneer Fellowship Lead, said: ”The application process for this year’s Digital Pioneer Fellowship programme was more competitive than ever, with a very high number of applications. I would like to personally say a huge congratulations to the outstanding NHS staff who have been accepted onto the programme. It’s exciting to see such a diverse mix of people – from project managers, service managers and analytics staff, to allied health professionals such as pharmacists, physiotherapists and psychologists, to medical professionals such as nurses, dentists and doctors. All of the fellows share the common vision of creating a more digital healthcare system to support staff and improve outcomes for patients. With such a wide spread of individuals I have no doubt that we are set for an incredible year on the programme.”

Uday Bose, Country Managing Director UK & Ireland at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “We are delighted to be supporting this year’s cohort of the Digital Pioneer Fellowship programme. As a family-owned company, we are always thinking about how we can improve lives for patients, now and for future generations. We believe that digital transformation is vital for delivering sustainable healthcare solutions and ultimately better care to patients. This programme provides a fantastic opportunity to inspire collaboration and support those who are finding new ways to accelerate and improve digital health technology adoption in the NHS.”

Visit the DigitalHealth.London website to see the full list of Fellows on the programme and browse their profiles: https://digitalhealth.london/our-work/digital-pioneer-fellowship/meet-the-fellows/

*For more information on the Digital Pioneer Fellowship sponsors visit: www.boehringer-ingelheim.co.uk