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?

The programme is aimed at NHS healthcare professionals currently employed at any level by an NHS organisation from a range of NHS disciplines including doctors, nurses, Allied Health Professionals, projects managers and IT staff. It is for individuals who are currently leading or significantly involved in delivering a digital transformation project within their organisation.

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What’s involved?

The programme lasts for 12 months, during which time Fellows will be expected to attend six days of learning. Support includes:

  • An action focused learning community where Fellows are grouped into action learning sets to support problem solving.
  • The learning days include a number of workshops and expert-led sessions on topics from design thinking and evaluation, to change management and strategic influencing.
  • Each Fellow benefits from quarterly 1:1 mentorship with an expert.
  • 115

    fellows supported across 45 organisations
  • 100 %

    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 BAME
  • 60

    Net Promoter Score for the third cohort at halfway point**

Success stories

Saira Arif DigitalHealth.London Digital Pioneer Fellow, 2019
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.
Dr Nicola Reynolds DigitalHealth.London Digital Pioneer Fellow, 2019
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.
Stephen East DigitalHealth.London Digital Pioneer Fellow, 2019
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.