Trusts and other healthcare bodies within the NHS are launching Data Academies — to upskill staff across roles in the data skills needed to improve patient outcomes.
Royal Free, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), Croydon Health Services NHS Trust & Bart Health NHS Trust, some of the largest NHS organisations in the UK, will enrol more than 40 of their staff on data apprenticeships.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has committed to training 40 of its staff in data skills through apprenticeships.
The training will be delivered by Multiverse, a startup tech company focused on high-quality education and training through a unique professional apprenticeship model. Multiverse delivers apprenticeships in areas such as software engineering and data analytics.
The use of data has the potential to free up clinician’s time, improve patient outcomes and ultimately save lives. The B(opens new window)MA reports(opens new window) that 27% of doctors lose more than 4 hours a week because of inefficient hardware or systems. A shortage of skills in this area means many systems remain outdated - across the UK more than 100,000 data positions remain unfilled(opens new window).
The launch of Data Academies across the NHS will improve efficiencies, create learning pathways for staff and, crucially, improve patient outcomes.
During the programmes, apprentices will learn through work - applying their skills in real-time to projects across the NHS.
Roxanne Moran, at National Institute of Health Care Excellence, said: “Our aim at NICE is to help practitioners and commissioners get the best care to patients fast. We have partnered with Multiverse to develop our staff with data skills, with a first cohort of 40 colleagues. Our increased capability in data skills will enable us to provide useful and useable advice for our users, and create a future-ready workforce, whilst providing a valuable personal development opportunity for colleagues.”
At Manchester Foundation Trust, 20 employees across Finance and Procurement will be enrolled on training programmes.
Edd Berry, Director of Finance Innovation at Manchester Foundation Trust, said: “In Finance, data is at the heart of much of what we do. Having the skills to validate, analyse, and forecast with data are essential. We want our staff to feel supported and confident in using the right tools to help them do their jobs as effectively as possible. We are really excited to be developing our staff with digital training from Multiverse”
Sean Hession, Deputy Director of Information Analytics at Royal Free London Trust, said: “Improving data literacy and upskilling our existing data teams is key to making the most of the information that we produce as a trust and is a key component of the Royal Free’s data strategy and trust strategy of becoming a data driven organisation. We recognise the potential that can be unlocked by giving analysts or those that work with data opportunities to develop their skills and understanding of data and how working with Multiverse can help us achieve that.”
The rollouts follow the success of the Data and Analytics Apprenticeship Pilot — launched by NHS England last year, in partnership with Multiverse. Multiverse also began a partnership with Leeds Health and Care Academy (LHCA), in a unique collaboration between health and care partners including Inspire North, Leeds County Council, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds Student Medical Practice and many more — to improve data skills within the sector.
Multiverse has worked with more than 200 NHS employees, in a wide-ranging partnership that helps the vital organisation grow its in-house data, tech and engineering skills.
