‘Achieving Excellence in Informatics Leadership’
Leadership Management Development Programmes for Health Informatics Professionals
Joint initiative between Yorkshire Centre for Health Informatics (YCHI), University of Leeds and Yorkshire and the Humber NHS Informatics community
Supported by and funding from Yorkshire and the Humber Workforce Development Confederation
High quality and credible education, training and development with good direction and leadership are essential components to ensure the NHS has an effective Health Informatics workforce now and for the future. (NHS Connecting for Health, 2006)
Background
Delivering the National Programme for IT, and through it the wider modernisation of health and social care, depends crucially on the capability and capacity of senior NHS informatics professionals. This particularly applies to current and prospective Directors of Informatics, who now need to have both the technical, planning and management skills of their private sector counterparts as well as a comprehensive, up-to-date appreciation of the national health and social care policy agenda and developments in clinical practice. Success depends crucially on understanding the history, politics, drivers and realities of the business.
The series of interrelated leadership and management development programmes have been designed as a comprehensive, coherent package of development opportunities, rather than as stand-alone programmes.
Taken together, the scale and focus of the 5 programmes will make a significant contribution to ensuring that the Informatics community can play an enhanced and more central role in helping to reshape services and create a New NHS in Yorkshire and Humber.
The core rationale for most of the programmes stems from the belief that although the vast majority of Informatics professionals are well informed and competent when it come to technical matters they may be relatively less so when it comes to matters of leadership, inter-personal skills and effective change management skills.
Furthermore it is the effective practice of these latter skills and competencies that will enable Informatics professionals to make a ‘step change’ in the nature of their contribution to bringing about a New NHS – both with regard to helping them make a more meaningful contribution to:
- the effective implementation of national policies and
- the creation of local corporate strategies that take full advantage of the contribution that IT and Informatics can make.
Overview of the 5 programmes
Understanding the Business of the NHS
This NHS domain training programme helps people to find out how the NHS really works. The programme develops understanding of patient pathways, communication networks and the use of clinical information in the NHS. It also develops understanding of how a hospital works and the care it delivers. It consists of a mixture of presentations, exercises and visits to hospital departments.
A key part of the programme is for participants to consider ways in which they can take what they have learnt into their work role and improve the service that they deliver.
Monthly courses as required. Maximum 12 participants. Delivered by YCHI and NHS organisation
CPD – Service Update Seminars
These workshops offer a range of interesting and up-to-date presentations on
national/regional perspectives, overviews of current and future IT technologies,
as well as local IT implementations. Presenters come from NHS, DH, IT Health Industry and University of Leeds. They provide an excellent opportunity for networking with colleagues, discussing similar challenges and ideas in a convivial atmosphere. Recent workshops include “Security in a Modern World” and “ Dealing with Legacy systems”. The seminars are open to any IT/ Informatics professionals. More information can be found at CPD4IT.
6 seminars per year. Maximum 100 participants.
Emerging Leaders: “Realising potential in yourselves and others”
The purpose of this programme is to help team leaders and other middle managers in Informatics Services across Yorkshire and Humberside to improve/develop their interpersonal effectiveness, core management competencies and leadership skills. These will be delivered by the NHS using programmes already in place for other areas of management.
3 per year, to run simultaneously. Maximum 75 (25 per programme).
Masterclass: “Informatics Leadership and the New NHS”
This programme is open to Directors of Informatics and aspiring directors in all Yorkshire and Humberside NHS organisations. It aims to help participants better appreciate:
- new and emerging key NHS policies (provider plurality, choice, strategic commissioning, independent regulation etc) and
- how effective personal leadership is central to Informatics professionals engaging effectively with these new policies and finding a stronger voice in strategy making at local level
Each class has a policy presentation, a leadership session, group working and a non-NHS perspective.
4 one day modules October - May, maximum 35 participants (participants are expected to attend all four classes)
More details of this programme can be found here.
Leadership: “Striving for Excellence - Personal Leadership and Service Transformation”
This programme is open to graduates of the Masterclass. It will challenge participants to develop new Informatics service strategies appropriate for operating in the new NHS, to identify expected role and leadership behaviours for Informatics leaders and for participants to:
- benchmark themselves against these ‘expected standards’
- practice leadership behaviours that address particular personal weaknesses
- apply programme learning to personal leadership of a work-based initiative related to pursuing a new local service strategy for Informatics service.
7 month programme including 6 workshops, Maximum 12 participants, delivered by University of Leeds
CPD accreditiaton is being sought from ASSIST, BCS and UKCHIP
The Programme is supported by funding from Yorkshire and the Humber Workforce Development Confederation.
For more information please contact Dr Susan Clamp.