This years’ Digital Health Summer School took place at Durham University on 18^th and 19^th July. The School provides an unrivalled opportunity to network, learn and connect with the national digital leaders of NHS trusts, ICSs and ICBs in a relaxed, protected and supportive environment.

With its unique mix of attendees, and blend of education, best practice exchange and networking, Summer School is designed to encourage rewarding peer-to-peer learning and foster strong connections that will endure.

HIWM’s Commercial Enterprises Lead, Reena Sidhu was in attendance along with five delegates from the West Midlands ICS, who’s places were funded by HIWM and The Shuri Network bursary programme for intersectionality female leaders.

Of the two day event, Reena said, “Digital Summer School 2024 was incredible, blending ground-breaking learning with inspiring connections. The forward-thinking breakout sessions and exceptional panels made it a standout event, empowering participants with new skills and insights to shape diverse future leaders and endeavours within the NHS and beyond. We cannot wait to see what next year’s Digital Summer School will bring!”

DAY ONE

The day began with an insightful keynote from John Quinn, Chief Information Officer at NHS England about productivity and the ‘One Digital’ way, followed by a session encouraging us to think outside the box.

David Elliott, Executive Chief Digital Information Officer, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, explored Northumbria’s digital journey of ‘Build Vs Buy’ by highlighting the digital ethos of self-development rather than always an off the shelf product.

Paul Frank, Operations and Performance Director at County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust shared his 20 years’ experience in the NHS leading high profile change initiatives in and across multiple NHS organisations and the work of the Digital and Clinical Advisory Group.

Professor Liz Breen, Health Service Operations at the University of Bradford addressed the challenges around preparing the digital workforce and growing the digital pipeline.

To round off the morning we hosted a workshop for all the 2024 bursary holders across our partners at the Digital Health Summer Schools and The Shuri Network, including Kumbi Kariwo, Equality & Inclusion Project Lead at Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Kumbi shared her thoughts earlier this year on the importance of women of colour attending conferences and her top tips for attending Digital Health Summer Schools.

“Diversity fuels innovation, and digital health conferences are fertile ground for cultivating it.

“The conference is a great opportunity to learn from experts and peers, so don’t be shy to ask questions during the sessions or during breaks.”

 You can read the full blog here.

In the afternoon, some delegates took part in an interactive workshop called, ‘Digital Dungeons Transformation: A Quest to Save the NHS Kingdom’.

Set out like the popular role playing game ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ we all went on a quest to save the NHS! Each group carefully considered every decision and the impact that choice would have on the next task.

The teams agreed that it really helped them to think about the importance of transformation management and implementation in the real world. From decision making and project support, to internal or external resources. They saw how to bring everyone on a digital journey and how to justify why decisions were made.

It was very interesting to see the decisions made across the different groups and the outcomes of these. One group came in with surplus budget and a complete integrated system!

A session about the latest developments addressing the future of digital in health from the Digital Health Networks, included updates from the Birmingham Declaration, which states:

The Digital Health Networks believe that improved use of digital and data is vital to the future success of the NHS and can only be achieved through:

• Improved and increased digital leadership across the whole NHS
• National digital policy driven from and informed by the needs and challenges of the front line
• A digitally mature and skilled NHS workforce able to exploit, discover and embrace new services underpinned by digital and data creatively and collaboratively.

Day one ended with the Digital Health Networks Awards 2024 which shine a spotlight on the best and brightest digital leaders shaping the future of healthcare within the NHS. The awards celebrate innovation, dedication, and excellence across the healthcare landscape, recognising and celebrating the remarkable achievements and contributions of individuals and teams who are driving transformation through digital technologies.

Congratulations to all of the winners!

• Team of the Year: The Great North Care Record (GNCR)
• Rising Star: Tosin Akinlabi
• CIO of the Year: Natasha Chare
• CCIO of the Year: Ramandeep Kaur
• CNIO of the Year: Simon Noel
• Posthumous Award for Outstanding Achievement: Glenn Winteringham

All the finalists can be found here.

DAY TWO

On day two we heard from Dr Jordi Piera Jiménez, Director of the Digital Health Strategy Office at the Catalan Health Service.

The main goal of the Digital Health Strategy for Catalonia is to develop a citizen-centred, data-driven information system that offers a cohesive view of health and facilitates the continuity of care, regardless of the care provider.

This new model must provide professionals with accessible, high-quality, clinically relevant information. The approach to data management and the technological framework should encourage the expansion of new healthcare delivery models, enable the automation of routine tasks, and improve patients’ access to information, thus facilitating their interaction with the health system.

The rest of a jam packed morning included Ming Tang, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at NHS England providing an overview of the data stream and insight into the roadmap for FDP.

Sue Jacques, Chief Executive at County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust talked about some recent challenges for the trust, how they have overcome them, and key lessons learnt.

Next, an expert panel addressed ‘Diversity in Action – Contracting Effectively and Ethically’. They talked about what we can do collectively to make change happen through commercial and digital channels. How we can influence stakeholders to ensure diversity is included in discussions, and what we can do when behaviours do not reflect core values.

Just before lunch we took park in the workshop session ‘Essential business skills for digital health leaders’ gaining insights from business cases with Adrian Byrne FBCS CHCIO, Ex NHS CIO, Abigail Harrison, Chief Digital and Infrastructure Officer at  Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust and Chris Fleming, Partner at Public Digital.

After lunch we heard the latest results from the Great Northern Care Record’s role out of the maternity EPR and what it means for clinical safety, and learnt how County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust have reduced cardiac arrests by 57% through e-observations and nursing mobility (with integrated sepsis screening).

In the final session of the day, ‘Where next in the next 10 years of digital health?’ the panel discussed the key challenges that have been raised over the past two days for digital health. The challenges and opportunities for future leadership, and asked ‘what does it mean to be a leader for 2030?’

HIWM would like to thank everyone who attended and all of the fabulous speakers! We hope everyone enjoyed the two days and that you have lots of takeaways to discuss with with your teams!

See you all again next year!