December 2021 NEWS & VIEWS FROM THE C&I TRUST DIGITAL TEAM
Introduction by Jeff Boateng
Executive Director of Digital Services & Informatics There is a lot of activity happening in the Digital team at the moment and I would like to thank the whole team for their hard work and dedication in working towards achieving our goals. I hope you find our updates helpful. If you have any comments or feedback, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing me at Jeffrey.boateng@candi.nhs.uk
Our Digital Strategy so far…. Last month, the Trust Board received an update on the progress that has been made in delivering the Digital Strategy. The Strategy has been running since February 2020 and a lot has been achieved in that time, especially in light of the pandemic. Whilst the Strategy has been running, there have been a number of strategic changes within the NHS; Integrated Care Systems are being developed and NHSX (who look at how digital services are delivered across the wider NHS) have also launched a digital framework called What Good Looks Like (WGLL), and our Community Mental Health Transformation is also underway. Internally, a large number of projects are currently running which will aid our infrastructure improvements and will help to improve access to clinical information to ensure that staff and service users are safe. The Board has been updated on our progress and has congratulated the Digital team for moving things forward over the past 20 months and acknowledged that things are still improving. There is more to be done and updates of new projects will be shared with staff across the Trust as they happen. I would like to conclude with the following reflection from myself and Dr Laurine Hanna, Chief Clinical Information Officer: Digital is a way of working that touches us all – clinicians, service users, administrators and managers alike. Here are the Digital principles we have learnt and lived since the original Strategy for C&I was published in February 2020:
• We have understood that technology cannot just be dropped into a service or team – digital is about people – and their needs must be understood and designed in order to make a success of any digital endeavour.
Many basic elements of Trust infrastructure have been replaced or improved – we are making considerable investments into our IT.
• As we go forward, we must continue to review our clinical systems with the same level of standards and governance throughout to support high quality of care to our service users. • We need a proactive representative between staff and digital services to engage with those using clinical systems. They will working with representative user groups to influence and inform crucial elements of the technology we use - particularly training and configurations. • Finally, we understand more than ever the importance of multidisciplinary working – people with technical skills working day in day out with clinical and operational colleagues as #oneteam to make stuff better #peoplebeforetechnology #C&Idigital. Going forward, we will be reviewing the Trust Digital Strategy in the new financial year to ensure that it still meets our needs. We will engage with staff across the Trust to understand the needs and requirements of teams and get an idea of what digital means to you. If you have any initial thoughts, then please do get in touch.