Leading Digital

You could be a digital champion – someone who takes a lead within their team to help others with digital solutions. It could simply be helping with setting up passwords, getting others confident with using Teams, ensuring everyone can access and input to your clinical systems that you use everyday. You may not need specific training for this – you may just have the knack!

Join our GGC eHealth Clinical Links Forum for upcoming events, Q+As, information and the AHP Network

The report: Clinical Informatics Teams | Faculty Of Clinical Informatics may be of some help although if tends to focus more on ‘formal’ digital roles compared to the less formal ones like Digital Champions. Digital Champions Programme Toolkit describes Digital Champions in the NHS more and Your Digital Champions (scvo.scot) describes the concept of Digital Champions in communities.

If this is the case then you should consider furthering your own knowledge and learning. A great way to do this is through the Digital Health and Care Leadership Programme .This course maximises the potential of digital to benefit people and supports participants to develop the strategic leadership skills required to influence the use of digital solutions in health and care delivery. Your project will need to fit with NHSGGC digital strategy (link for strategy 23-28) but you can discuss this with your digital leads prior to and during your course.

A recent digital champion informal support network for AHPs, nurses and midwives working in GGC has been set up to support staff who have completed the DlP but we are also looking for those with a keen interest in digital to join the group. Please get in touch with Gillian Ferguson or James Monaghan (james.monaghan@ggc.scot.nhs.uk) for more info.

You don’t necessarily require to do a formal course. Successful project work derives from great quality improvement methodology. Please refer to the online resources available on the NHSGGC website. Your Digital leads will be more than happy to support and advise. You can also submit project requests that require support from ehealth via the Project Management Office (pmo@ggc.scot.nhs.uk).

Social media is a highly influential way of connecting with others both with colleagues and patients. Please refer to the Information Systems: Acceptable Use policy if planning to provide a patient facing site on one of the many social media platforms available.

Many services and teams rely on websites to share information about their service.

There are 3 types and you may require more than one of the types for your service:

Service information webpage for the public

For information about your service that the public will access, it will likely be in the Hospitals and Service section on the NHSGGC website.

It should have the following structure:

• Service overview
• Info for patients
  • About the condition
  • What we do
  • How to be referred to service
  • What to expect at your appointment/hospital stay/what happens afterwards
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Leaflets
• About the team
• Publications
  • Reports
  • Forms
  • Patient Leaflets
• Where to find us
• Contact us
• Useful resources/links

To build this type of site see information provided by the Web Team.

Generic staff information

For information that is for staff primarily but which is appropriate for public view if desired such as this website and HR Connect it will likely be in the Staff Resources section on NHSGGC website and the structure will vary depending on content.

To build this type of site see information provided by the Web Team. You will be asked to complete the LearnPro module GGC 289: WordPress CMS prior to beginning your webpage build.

Service and professional information for staff only

For information about your service that is for staff only such as rotas, contact lists, service operating procedures etc, it is best to use the functions of M365, especially Teams and SharePoint. How these work together is described in Teams and SharePoint integration.

Put simply, every team in Teams has a SharePoint site already but SharePoint sites can be created independently too. See information at M365 Training Sessions to get started using Sharepoint or watch these videos:

Most of us now input our notes in to an electronic patient record whether it be EMISweb, Trakcare or Clinical Portal. But its important to know that these systems have regular upgrades and in time and through service improvement can change to a completely different product. You should see the record as being something that evolves and that can be improved to suit the service needs and not seen as a static unchanging entity. Have a read of EHCR Adoption Considerations which describes the move from paper to EHCR but also outlines considerations for getting the most out of your current notes tool. Making the Most of your Electronic Patient Record is a great site for more in depth reading.

Good data collection is crucial to changing and influencing a service. Understanding the power of data is becoming a must have skill. Look at how you collect data within your service or team. Can it be improved? Do you know if your patient clinical system such as Clinical Portal, Trakcare or EMISweb assist processes around referral management, workload, caseload management etc. FutureLearn offers a free online course to develop your skills and understanding of the data in health care – Power of Data in Health and Social Care.

Using apps is becoming increasingly common but there are things that need considering before adopting:

• Don’t jump into a specific product – what are the functional needs?​
• Will you need to capture identifiable data?​
• IG will need to be involved – a data protection impact assessment (DPIA)​. See Information Security policy
• Is there something that already does the job in the organisation?​

While a specific app may have caught your eye from an advert or event, there may be others.

Some estimate that 45% of all software features are NEVER used​.

There is likely to be a cost after an initial free trial.

Is it for clinical work?​

• Clinical safety of the product will need considered – some apps are even classed as medical devices​. Use the DTAC
• Will it be part of the clinical record or need to integrate with it?​
• What products suit these needs?​
• Installed app or web-app?​
• Competitive tender may be required​

If considering a trial, also consider a ‘get-out’​ as you could make a change that cannot be sustained due to financial or service implications.

Speak to your digital leads early on.​

Look at what is already available in the Right Decision Service.

Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy alongside the NHSGGC strategy Digital on Demand are 2 key documents that help shape the digital landscape with health and care. Visit the Digital Health and Care site on TURAS/Learn for lots more information and resources to support your digital journey.