An Interview with Andy Webster – The State of Play of Digital Transformation in the NHS

We are counting down the days until the first ever HETT North healthcare event taking place on 2nd March at Manchester Central Convention Complex. As the event draws closer, we caught up with Andy Webster, CCIO, Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust to find out more about digital transformation in the current NHS landscape and what we can expect from his keynote session ‘The State of Play in Digital Transformation’ 

Key takeaways from the interview – digital transformation in the NHS 

“There’s a real patchwork of digital maturity at the moment” 

There’s a varying level of digital transformation in the NHS, some trusts have fully integrated digital tools, whereas others may not have yet implemented projects such as electronic patient records.  

“There’s a large workforce around of highly skilled individuals, but the downside is they can go and work for larger organisations or as contractors for a lot more money.” 

A skilled workforce is key to supporting digitisation across the NHS, however there is currently a real challenge to securing a skilled workforce. Assured funding is also a key factor, with many trusts are awaiting funding decisions to understand how much they can invest into digital implementations. 

“What most trusts are looking for, is that their workforce is really engaged with patient care and they are really interested in using digital technologies to help achieve that.” 

Many staff members from trusts such as Leeds are requesting to use digital technologies across various projects, however it’s key that we strike the right balance and ensure that the tools that are implemented are done so effectively.  

“In Leeds, we are relaunching our digital engagement strategy. We’ve got a new Chief Clinical Information Officer who’s bringing some fresh ideas in, and a lot of that focus is going to be on staff training and education” 

Staff training and education around digital implementation can make a massive difference in delivering patient care, however training needs to be incorporated into their day to day schedules in order to be successful.  

Andy Webster will be speaking more about digital transformation at ‘HETT North’, Thursday 2nd March, Manchester Central Convention Complex! 

Join Andy Webster at HETT North to watch the keynote session ‘The State of Play in Digital Transformation’. 

Andy and his fellow speakers will be discussing critical factors in digital transformation in the NHS such as: 

• Improving the current digital maturity index and supporting trusts to digitise more quickly
• Identifying and developing measures of digital maturity
• Leading through inclusive change management and improving staff morale and workload
• Research and innovation to support the improvements of and uptake of digital technology to support connected care 

Be sure not to miss this keynote session by securing your free pass today!