Digital Pioneer Fellowship
The Digital Pioneer Fellowship is a 12-month programme that supports NHS staff in a specific area to lead and deliver digital transformation projects.
Who is the Digital Pioneer Fellowship for?
Digital Pioneer Fellowships empower individuals employed at any level within NHS, Local Authority, and Voluntary sector organisations – spanning various disciplines such as doctors, nurses, Allied Health Professionals, project managers and IT staff – to design and lead health and care transformation projects driven by digital innovation. The programme is ideal for those currently leading or playing a significant role in delivering digital transformation projects within their organisation.
What’s involved?
The South-West London Integrated Care System (SWL ICS) Digital Pioneer Fellowship is specifically for staff employed by NHS, Local Authority and Voluntary Sector organisations in South-West London. The programme spans twelve months, during which Fellows are expected to attend six Learning Days. Support includes:
- From mastering Agile methodologies to crafting compelling business cases, Fellows will gain the skills and knowledge needed to drive real change through immersive Learning Days, workshops and events covering topics such as structuring evaluations and applying change management principles.
- An action-focused learning community where Fellows are grouped into action learning sets to support problem-solving.
- The programme also doubles as a learning community, connecting Fellows to like-minded peers, influencers in the system and experts who can mentor them.
Catch the replay of the South-West London ICS and DigitalHealth.London 101 Webinar to hear from the programme delivery team and some of the Fellows who have been supported.
115
fellows supported across 45 organisations100 %
All Fellows surveyed in cohorts 1 and 2 were confident that being part of the Fellowship was of benefit to their career*80 %
In the first year of the programme, over 80% of the fellows surveyed cited positive gain, saying that they gained specific technical skills and/or had met an individual challenge thanks to the Fellowship*30 %
of the third cohort identify as BAME60
Net Promoter Score for the third cohort at halfway point**
Success stories
I didn’t feel I was senior enough to apply to the Fellowship programme, but I attended the showcase event and my line manager encouraged me to apply… The programme, along with my experiences, and the amazing people I met, helped me understand my own personal interests and aspirations. My big ambition now is to help those in developing countries or vulnerable communities, access skills to benefit from digital health.
I now think more strategically, and this has expanded the remit of my digital role. I recently contributed to a bid for funding from NHS X, we were successful in securing £200K to contribute to the development of a digital care pathway for CAMHS. I found the teaching invaluable, both the formal teaching and the Action Learning Set groups. I was able to use the insights I gained from the Change Management session to arrange an alignment conversation with the senior team. It had a significant impact on the project and led to my solution becoming incorporated into the Trust wide solution.
The programme has helped me in terms of exposure. There was a lot of positive feedback from the blog that I wrote and had published on the DigitalHealth.London website. This, I believe, influenced invitations to speak at conferences in Kansas, Netherlands, Belgium and Australia. I have been seconded to the STP as an advisory body member to support the One London Programme. This has given my Trust greater visibility. The programme has helped me develop confidence in decision-making and engagement as well as to be able to drive better adoption.