Q Exchange
Dive into Digital: Enabling Digital Inclusion
- Winning idea
- 2020
What is the positive change that has emerged through new collaborations or partnerships during Covid-19 that your project is going to embed?
Covid-19 has brought with it many changes, not least of which is an accelerated pace of digital transformation in Health and Social Care.
Within our trust we have worked collaboratively with ‘front-line’ colleagues to develop and launch several digital solutions to support staff and patients through the novel demands of working in a pandemic. This collaboration with users has ensured that digital solutions are developed in such a way that they are intuitive, embed easily into workflows, and add value (not stress) to users.
This project seeks to ensure that such collaborative work becomes established as the norm for digital transformation projects, by upskilling and empowering staff. To achieve this we will connect users with opportunities to improve their digital skills so that they can actively participate and confidently collaborate. This will ensure that every user voice is heard, thereby facilitating the co-creation of successful and meaningful digital solutions.
What does your project aim to achieve?
The overarching aim of this project is one of digital inclusion: to provide staff with the skills and confidence to engage with and influence Digital Transformation.
To achieve this we will: deliver an interactive database of digital literacy learning resources; upskill ‘Digital Mentors’; develop and deliver a blended-learning module on ‘Digital Transformation in Health and Social Care’; and support the creation of multi-disciplinary ‘Digital User Groups’.
Within 20 years 90% of NHS jobs will require digital skills (https://topol.hee.nhs.uk/). Yet 22% of the UK population does not have the digital skills deemed necessary for ‘everyday life’. Given the rapid pace of digital transformation we risk alienating and overwhelming our workforce, particularly in the context of unparalleled clinical pressures.
Locating and navigating digital literacy learning resources is hard for those who lack tangible digital skills. This project aims to mitigate these concerns and enable users to thrive in a digital world.
How will the project be delivered?
In line with HEE recommendations (https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/digital-literacy), the project will draw on existing resources for digital upskilling where possible. Our project will be delivered in 4 ways:
1) Creating an online interactive database of digital literacy learning resources entitled ‘Dive into Digital’. The acronym ‘Dive’ reflects our ethos that ‘Digital Inclusion provides a Voice for Everyone’. Establishing a single site for resources will simplify learning and facilitate engagement.
2) Upskilling ’Digital Mentors’ to help staff assess their digital proficiency, identify learning needs, signpost to appropriate resources and support them to navigate the database independently. More confident users can ‘dive straight in’ to the database.
3) Developing a ‘Digital Transformation in Health and Social Care’ learning module to upskill users to engage meaningfully with the development of digital systems.
4) Creating multi-disciplinary ‘Digital User Groups’ to provide a vital link to front-line staff and ensure digital solutions are authentically co-created with users.
How is your project going to share learning?
We will share our learning (including experiential learning and what has not worked) at Q events and webinars, on the Q website and by establishing a Q special interest group. We will also share our work on https://fabnhsstuff.net/ and anticipate writing a journal article.
As a Trust we hold Global Digital Exemplar status and are experienced in producing GDE Blue-Prints. We will therefore adopt and adapt this model to share our learning.
A primary aim of the project is that participating multi-disciplinary staff will sustain the cycle of connecting, listening and sharing their experience and learning well beyond the initial duration of the project.
We will map project benefits by assessing user impact measures such as digital confidence and innovation readiness and applying the NASSS (non-adoption, abandonment, scale-up, spread, sustainability) framework. We aim to achieve the improved efficiency, safety, co-operative delivery and embedding of Digital Transformation projects.
How you can contribute
- Feedback on the project idea.
- Feedback on learning resources that have worked well and less well elsewhere and sharing of examples of best practice.
- Participation in the project Special Interest Group.
- Co-creation in development and testing of the database and digital transformation learning resources.
- Help with championing, sharing and spreading the 'Dive into Digital' resources.
- Nominating possible 'digital mentors'.
- Identification of national pilot sites.
- Participating in 'learning before', 'learning during' and 'learning after' knowledge sharing workshops.
- Partnering with us to set up multidisciplinary 'Digital User Groups'.
Plan timeline
| 1 Mar 2021 | Announcement of Q Exchange Winners |
|---|---|
| 15 Mar 2021 | New project Special Interest Group created |
| 29 Mar 2021 | Begin collection of examples of best practices from other organisations |
| 19 Apr 2021 | Formal project launch meeting |
| 19 Apr 2021 | 'Learn before' workshop with peer organisations |
| 27 Apr 2021 | Staff interviews and surveys to assess digital confidence and needs |
| 7 Jun 2021 | Begin primary compilation of learning resource database |
| 14 Jun 2021 | Virtual workshops to co-create digital transformation learning resources |
| 28 Jun 2021 | Commence development of app/web-based resource for user interface with database |
| 3 Aug 2021 | Testing (PDSA) of database and digital transformation learning resources |
| 6 Sep 2021 | Refine database and resources based on feedback (iterative PDSA cycles) |
| 13 Sep 2021 | 'Learn during' workshop with peer organisations |
| 11 Oct 2021 | Training of Digital Mentors begins |
| 19 Oct 2021 | Showcase learning to date at Fab Change Day 2021 (tbc) |
| 25 Oct 2021 | Trust Wide communications and awareness campaign |
| 8 Nov 2021 | Pilot of ‘Dive into Digital’ with small staff group |
| 22 Nov 2021 | Selection of National pilot sites |
| 22 Nov 2021 | Share pilot resources & learning to date at Q Conference (tbc) |
| 6 Dec 2021 | Upscale pilot to include further staff members |
| 10 Jan 2022 | Collation of feedback from pilot sites |
| 24 Jan 2022 | Improvement to resources based on feedback from pilot sites |
| 7 Mar 2022 | Release of ‘final’ package of resources to Q Community |
| 14 Mar 2022 | Digital User Group workshops begin |
| 14 Mar 2022 | 'Learn after' workshop with peer organisations to share project learning |
Project updates
1 Nov 2021
Creating an online interactive database of digital literacy learning resources
· We are in the process of compiling a central document containing links to all resources found and categorising which areas of digital literacy they can support.
· In discussion with HEE regarding the Trust becoming a beta testing site for the new Digital Literacy Self-Assessment Diagnostic Tool.
· It has become very apparent that a significant amount of digital literacy resources are not necessarily applicable to front line workers in the NHS. We are therefore scoping the possibility of creating a generic Digital Healthcare module looking at core functionality and user interface within areas such as e-Obs and e-prescribing. That is, regardless of which digital system a user interacts with, identifying the key themes and safety components that are fundamental to all systems and creating a learning package around this.
Upskilling Digital Mentors
· We have organised and run six introductory Digital Champion workshops which were open to all clinical staff at the hospital.
· We were able to baseline digital literacy in the group, provide information around how the project will work and received feedback from the Champions regarding any particular areas they want to focus on as well as the digital/technological challenges they face carrying out their job.
· We have arranged for monthly Digital Champion upskilling sessions to run over the course of a year. Following completion of the sessions the Champions with be provided with a certificate of completion and the opportunity to act as a Digital Mentor for other members of staff.
· Each workshop will have three main focus areas: Digital Literacy, Clinical Systems Upskilling, Q&A.
· We have begun to explore the possibility of including the use of digital systems within Clinical Simulation Scenarios, e.g. finding the correct e-obs in real time during an emergency.
Digital Champions Monthly Timetable
Developing a ‘Digital Transformation in Health and Social Care’ learning module
· Work on the module has begun with areas such as AI, Clinical Decision Support and Natural Language Processing already complete. This work has been presented to a group of Junior Doctors in order to gain feedback and help shape future work.
· The module will presented over two sessions with our Digital Champions before becoming available online.
Creating multi-disciplinary ‘Digital User Groups’
· To date, this has fallen under the remit of the Digital Champions work but we will be looking to expand this further to involve non-clinical staff in the future.
Reflection
It has been incredibly rewarding to have our first cohort of Digital Champions sign up and go through the Introductory Workshop. There was a huge range of skills and knowledge and it has been great to benchmark that with a digital literacy assessment so that we can assess the impact of the sessions.
It has been difficult for staff to be released from the wards to attend workshops due to operation pressures. A key mitigation here has been repeated communication with ward Sisters and Managers, as well as ensuring information is available in the staff news. Mixed attendance via in-person and Teams has also been a challenge due to variable experience of the Champions and this is something we will be assessing further prior to our next set of workshops.
Overall, Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the progression of the project due to availability of clinical staff, restrictions in numbers who can attend in-person sessions as well as emergent work for our digital team which has had to be prioritised on clinical safety grounds. However, completion of our first set of workshops has lifted spirits and we are very much looking forward to starting of the monthly sessions in December.
Next Steps
· Building out the content of the monthly sessions.
· Following up with HEE regarding digital literacy self-assessment.
· Identifying an appropriate developer to build the interactive database.
· Scoping potential for developing a generic clinical systems training package.
· Liaising with the simulation team regarding inclusion of digital systems.
· Incorporate feedback from the ‘New Technology’ lecture into the Health and Social Care module.
· Scoping the possibility to take the Digital Champions package into non-clinical staff groups and Community and Mental Health Services.
Request for Help
We would be incredibly grateful if the Q community could signpost us toward any useful Digital Literacy / Digital Transformation resources they have found, so that we can include them in the database.
Comments
Andrea Gibbons 20 Oct 2020
Thanks for making contact Carly and Rebecca. It's great to see that you've incorporated the principle of learning before, during and after into your project plan. You may find these postcards from HEE useful to help frame those knowledge sharing meetings: https://kfh.libraryservices.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/KM-Framework-Postcards-full-set-2019.pdf
The library team or our Evidence4QI Q Exchange project from last year would be delighted to help you with the knowledge management aspects of your project. Good luck.
Carly Sharpe 20 Oct 2020
Hi Andrea, Thanks very much for this – the postcards look like a really useful prompt for these meetings. We really appreciate your offer of help and hope we will be taking you up on it!
Peter Dudgeon 14 Oct 2020
Hi Carly,
Myself and my colleague Emma Adams (Health Transformation Partnership) are supporting the Health Foundation this year by fostering conversations between Q members and encouraging collaboration. We were Exchange applicants last year, so we’re hoping that our experience can help others, as their ideas develop.
I read your idea shortly after reading the idea, "Interactive virtual multi-professional safety training for maternity services". One of the things they are asking for is input from people who have experience of moving training delivery from face to face, to virtual. I noted that your team has extensive experience of providing such resources, so I wondered whether you'd be willing to reach out to that other project and - if it's not too much to ask - offer some guidance in that regard. Perhaps they could reciprocate with some of their own learning.
In the meantime, I wish you well with your project idea.
Warm wishes,
Pete
Rebecca Garrett 19 Oct 2020
Hi,
Of course, happy to help in any way we can. I'll make contact with the team.
Tim Benson 30 Sep 2020
You may like to check out our work on digital innovation evaluation, https://informatics.bmj.com/content/26/1/e000018. We have foumd that the Innovation Adoption Score is a particularly strong differentiator between success and failure, where the same technology is being used in different sites.
Since that was published we have also developed a set of "product confidence" measures as well, which we have applied to a number of technologies, such as EHRs, remote consulting and patient apps. We have also a variant covering clinicians confidence to recommend patients to use various technologies too. See https://r-outcomes.com.
I hope this helps
Tim Benson
Tim Benson 14 Oct 2020
We ha ve been using these measures to evaluate primary care staff attitudes to digital innovations before and after lockdown. This has led to some further refinement. The latest published version is at:
Benson T. Measure what we want: a taxonomy of short generic person-reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs). BMJ Open Quality 2020;9:e000789. doi: 10.1136/bmjoq-2019-000789. https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/9/1/e000789
Tim
Rebecca Garrett 12 Oct 2020
Hi, thanks for taking the time to comment-your paper is really interesting and I think very relevant to our project. I think it wold be particularly useful to look at Innovation Readiness and Digital Confidence before and after utilising an intervention such as our proposed learning resources which will be aimed at improving digital inclusivity.
Matthew Tod 30 Sep 2020
Looks good. One area that would be really valuable is a measurement resource. Measuring the impact of digital transformation is notoriously hard, but in order to show people that new ways of working are making a tangible difference it is essential. I saw a lovely example recently where the measure of success was "minutes given back to frontline staff" which I thought was brilliant as everybody can understand it and value it. This little blog https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how-to-measure-digital-transformation-progress/ gives some very good generic advice.
Rebecca Garrett 12 Oct 2020
Hi, thanks very much for your input - the blog was an interesting read. I think you are absolutely right that the benefits of digital transformation need to be communicated to staff in a way that is easily translatable to their day to day practice. 'Minutes given back to staff' is a really succinct way to do this and would hopefully foster a positive attitude towards change. It's certainly something we will look into.
Andrea Gibbons 22 Sep 2020
This idea has lots of potential, well done. You may find the following report from the AHSN Network of interest, which relates to collating the digital learning from Covid: https://www.ahsnnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-AHSN-Network-Digital-and-AI-Report.pdf Good luck!
Carly Sharpe 30 Sep 2020
Many thanks for sharing the report – very interesting reading. Section 3 ‘Urgency, speed and agility as the new normal’ certainly is very apt to the digital work currently being undertaken. Hopefully, by engaging with staff on digital health via our proposed learning package, we will ensure that we remain agile and can meet and support the rapidly changing needs of the clinical staff.
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