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Case study

Driving Digital Innovation to Transform Services and Improve Patient Care in Primary Care

Within the North East and North Cumbria, the Digital Pioneers Programme was launched in April 2022 to provide education to the workforce and drive forward digital health ideas and innovations in NHS primary care services.

This included supporting colleagues working in General Practice, pharmacy, dentistry and optometry.

132 champions trained

12 masterclasses delivered engaging with 708 people

5 working groups established

76 action plans created

100% of attendees would recommend to others

The Digital Pioneers Programme launched to support primary care services to adopt a ‘digital first’ approach, ensuring that this doesn’t exacerbate existing digital exclusion among patients.

In its first year (2022/23), the Programme focussed upon building strong relationships within the region to understand the unique needs of local primary care services, and the role of innovation to enhance services.

After laying this groundwork in year one, the programme’s second year involved building on two key programme elements:

Digital Champions Programme

In collaboration with Redmoor Health, the Digital Champions Programme was developed to upskill primary care colleagues and encourage practices to utilise digital technology.

The CPD-accredited 12-month education programme empowered staff to lead digital projects within their organisations. It also provided a community of practice forum to share learning and included masterclass education sessions to continuously upskill champions.

Innovative Ideas

This element of the programme provided opportunities for the primary care workforce to develop innovative digital ideas and apply for funding to implement solutions that could make a real difference, to improve patient care and transform services.

As part of this, the first project call for primary care was launched, inviting innovators to bid for funding, up to the value of £20,000. Applications were invited from innovators of all sectors including business, NHS teams and universities, working in collaboration with primary care teams. Utilising the Innovation Pathway model created by HI NENC 34 ideas have been supported, of these, funding has been provided to 6 innovators to further develop and allow for evaluations.

Innovations have included a pilot to digitise public health messaging in 20 pharmacies in Durham. More information about this innovation in this short 4-minute video

 

For more information please visit:

https://healthinnovationnenc.org.uk/what-we-do/driving-digital-transformation/digital-pioneers/

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