People, data, and technology are crucial to the future evolution of the NHS.
As part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan(opens new window), leaders across the country are seeking to modernise the organisation’s digital and data infrastructure. By making more effective use of data, they aim to better meet patient needs and offer a higher level of personalised care.
Since 2020, Multiverse has partnered with over 40 different NHS bodies – ranging from NHS trusts, to whole integrated care systems like Leeds Health and Care Academy – to launch NHS Data Academies, designed to embed data skills across the workforce, support NHS digital transformation strategies, and improve patient outcomes.
Equipping NHS employees with in-demand data skills
Through the NHS Data Academies, over 500 NHS employees have enrolled on Multiverse data upskilling programmes in the past three years. This includes personnel in clinical, operational, administrative, and IT-related roles – laying the necessary foundations to improve data literacy organisation-wide.
Employees are empowered to upskill, improve their data literacy, and develop digital skills across a range of learning pathways.
Each of the NHS Data Academies share a common set of goals:
- Improving operational efficiency by helping staff improve their confidence and efficiency in handling data. Across the NHS data academies, apprentices have tracked an average time saving of 6.4 hours per week from improving their data skills.
- Enabling data-driven decision-making by extracting actionable insights from complex data sets.
- Supporting improved patient outcomes by leveraging data to provide more personalised care.
During their programme, employees gain new skills through applied learning – using their new skills in real-time, on projects at the front lines of the NHS. It’s this combination that drives measurable impact.
Improving operational efficiencies and patient outcomes at North London Mental Health Partnership
When North London Mental Health Partnership (NLMHP) launched its Digital Academy with Multiverse, it took another stride towards a more efficient way of working. The initiative emphasises the intelligent use of data to drive improvements and efficiencies, by providing employee training to more than 100 staff across every division of NLMHP.
Sarah Wilkins, Chief Digital Information Officer at NLMHP, says, ‘‘Being part of this initiative means understanding of our data and insights will be embedded through the organisation, enabling us to enhance our services and improve patient and service user outcomes.
"Not only will it drive operational efficiency, but it will also serve as a stepping stone in our commitment to professional development for our staff."
With improved digital capabilities, NLMHP aims to help employees become more efficient across a wide range of workflows, including project management, analysis and forecasting. The training aims to make the Partnership more data-driven and productive, ultimately resulting in improvements to patient outcomes and services.
Driving digital transformation at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) helps practitioners and commissioners get the best care to people, fast, while ensuring value for the taxpayer. NICE does this by producing useful and usable guidance for health and care practitioners.
NICE had access to plenty of data to help inform their people and services, but wanted to leverage it more effectively, to boost productivity.
Elena Doyle, Associate Director of Data Management at NICE, says, "NICE is on a transformation journey to ensure we’re meeting the changing needs of our nation’s health and care systems. Improving the data and digital skills of our people is an essential part of this transformation.
“That’s why in June 2023, we launched our Data Academy, so we can deliver even more relevant, timely, usable and impactful guidance for our partners.”
At the start of the partnership, Multiverse conducted a skills gap analysis across each division at NICE, which identified the target areas that would see the biggest impact from an upskilling programme.
“To date, 10% of our workforce has joined the Academy, with every directorate represented. This is so we can reach a transformational tipping point,” says Elena.
“We have seen significant productivity improvements, growth in awareness of how to leverage data the right way, as well as better use of tools we have invested in like Power BI.”
Unlock digital transformation with employee upskilling
To learn more about how Multiverse can support your own digital transformation goals through upskilling, get in touch.
