Resources
Resources for board-level leaders to support understanding and knowledge for leading in the digital age.
Key Strategies and Reports
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Update for 2024-25 to the national Digital Health and Care Strategy's Delivery Plan which describes activities supporting Health Boards, HSCPs, local authorities, primary care, social care, social work, and care providers to offer new or improved...
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Summary of the results of the digital maturity survey of NHS Health Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), and local authorities in Scotland for 2023.
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The Topol Review outlined recommendations to ensure the NHS is the world leader in using digital technologies to benefit patients. It will involve implementing technologies such as genomics, digital medicine, artificial intelligence and robotics...
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Our Strategy marks a new chapter in Scotland’s relationship with artificial intelligence. It is the result of an extensive consultation and engagement programme involving academia, industry, the public sector and the people of Scotland.
Audit Scotland Reports
NHS in Scotland 2022 (published February 2023)
Local government in Scotland: Overview 2023 (published May 2023)
Digital progress in local government (published January 2021)
Must Reads
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Short read to understand the key elements of a digitally enabled organisation.
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Short read outlining the differences between these terms and a reminder that digital transformation is all about the user.
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An interesting blog from Dafydd Vaughan, CTO of Public Digital, highlighting the link between blame culture, bad service design and the importance of understanding that digital is only a tool.
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This analysis looks at clinician views on which technologies offer the biggest opportunities to support staff capacity and release time.
Questions for Boards
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Question set for board-level leaders to challenge and seek assurance with a digital mindset.
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This checklist is intended to help elected members scrutinise and challenge digital progress. It supplements the good practice guide and sets out a number of questions to be considered and asked of officers, based on the characteristics of a...
Short Videos | What do Boards need to know about...
Digital Mindset
Hear about the importance of leaders adopting a digital mindset from Richard McCallum, Stephen Gallagher and Loraine McMillan.
Non-Executive Perspective
Hear from Angus McCann about the potential of digital approaches to build more sustainable services and the benefits of applying a digital mindset.
Third Sector Perspective
Hear from Bob Cowie about people-led rather than technology-led approaches to reimagining services.
Artificial Intelligence
Hear from Sue Turner OBE of AI Governance about why Boards should be thinking about AI.
Near Me
Hear the key messages for Boards to consider about the transformative potential of Near Me from Marc Beswick.
Related resources:
- Bill's video Near Me - a patient's perspective
- Jill's video Reducing travel with Chronic Pain
- Remote Consulting Learning Site
Digital Mental Health
Hear from Chris Wright about the integral role of digital in Scotland's new Mental Health Strategy.
Personas
Hear from George Crooks, CEO of the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre, as to how personas can be used in as a tool for user-centred service design.
Digital Inclusion
Hear from Eilidh McLaughlin, Head of Digital Citizen Unit at Scottish Government, as to why Boards need to be considering digital inclusion as part of digital transformation.
Connect Me
Morag Hearty explains the context behind the Connect Me programme and how this is benefitting people. You can also find out more on the Connect Me site
Using Data to Transform
David Wylie, formerly Head of Podiatry at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Associate Director NMAHP at NES, demonstrates how data can be used to transform services and maximise resources.
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What Chief Executive and Executive/Non-executive Boards need to know about IG?
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Carol Sinclair sets out the key data standards commitments, and what it means for professionals and public in her recent blog with the Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB).
Workforce | Digital Skills Programmes and Networks
Scottish Digital Health and Care Network
Teams community for collaboration in the digital health and care space, if you would like to join and the link does not work, please contact nes.dew@nhs.scot.
Digital Health and Care Leadership Programme (DLP)
Leadership programme aimed at current and aspiring mid-level leaders across the health and care workforce. Participation requires the identification and delivery of a digital improvement project in the participant's organisation.
Leading Digital Transformation in Health and Care for Scotland [PGCert, PGDip, MSc]
Postgraduate programme aimed at senior level current and future leaders to enable them to drive, deliver and embed digital transformation across Scotland’s health and care services.
DIgital Office - Scottish Local Government
Programmes and resources for Scotland’s local authorities to help deliver a digital first approach that enables councils to provide better services to their citizens.
Digital Leadership Webinar Series
Webinar series aimed at current and aspiring leaders at all levels with an interest in digital.
Learning programmes and resources for public and third sector staff to build digital skills and talent.
SCVO Digital Training and Events
Support for organisations in the voluntary sector including training, events and learning.
Service Design and Scottish Standard
The vision for the Scottish Approach to Service Design is that the people of Scotland are supported and empowered to actively participate in the definition, design and delivery of their public services (from policy making to live service improvement). You can access the approach here.
The Digital Scotland Service Standard aims to make sure that services in Scotland are continually improving and that users are always the focus.
Case Studies
Read about different examples of digital done well.
Blackwood Homes and Care
Blackwood Homes and Care's Peoplehood Project's ambition is to co-create beautiful places for independent living that offer what people need to live healthier and happier for longer and to ask questions, co-design and test new ideas with real people to learn what it really takes to develop thriving, healthy neighbourhoods of the future. You can read more here.
NHS Grampian
The GRACE (Grampian’s Radiology Assisted Chest x-ray Evaluation) project sees an innovative prioritisation and decision support tool, driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), being evaluated in radiology departments, emergency departments and acute medical assessment units across NHS Grampian. You can read more here.
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The Pathfinder Programme was delivered as a collaboration between the Scottish Government’s Digital Health and Care Directorate through the TEC Programme, Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s ihub, the Office of the Chief Designer, Scottish...
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A team of pre-operative care specialists has won an innovation award after introducing a digital system to streamline the onboarding of patients for surgery.
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Article by Tara Donnelly
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Purple Alert is a free mobile app which raises an alert to the community if someone with dementia is missing in their area.
Further Reading
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Resources from NHS England.
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Parliamentary report into the digital transformation of the NHS (June 2023).
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During 2021-22, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Scottish Government, NHS 24, Police Scotland, and the Scottish Ambulance Service conducted a design investigation validated by user research on people’s experiences and journey through unscheduled...
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Consultancy firm and thinktank for digital transformation.
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Developing a framework for embedding digital inclusion in health and social care.
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Data Driven Healthcare in 2030: Transformation Requirements of the NHS Digital Technology and Health Informatics Workforce
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Digital maturity: are we ready to use technology in the NHS?
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Bringing NHS data analysis into the 21st century
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Making IT Work: Harnessing the Power of Health Information Technology to Improve Care in England Link
A look at the digitisation of secondary care and the healthcare system reported by the National Advisory Group on Health Information Technology in England.
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Data Driven Healthcare in 2030: Transformation Requirements of the NHS Digital Technology and Health Informatics Workforce Link
This report was commissioned by HEE’s Digital Readiness programme to identify the capacity and capability challenges facing the NHS digital technology and informatics workforce (the ‘digital workforce’) in the next 10 years.
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This strategy sets out the measures which will ensure that Scotland will fulfil its potential in a constantly evolving digital world.
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An interesting blog from Dafydd Vaughan, CTO of Public Digital, highlighting the link between blame culture, bad service design and the importance of understanding that digital is only a tool.
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Mike Bracken at Public Digital writes about how we can avoid another Horizon scandal
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The Introduction to AI assurance provides a grounding in AI assurance for readers who are unfamiliar with the subject area. This guide introduces key AI assurance concepts and terms and situates them within the wider AI governance landscape.
Digital Mindset
These short videos capture what it means to have a digital mindset and lead digitally enabled organisations.
Digital Leadership vs Digital Transformation
"We need to get as good at digital leadership as we are at creating and applying digital technology. If our new, digitally enabled world is going to be a better place than the analogue one we are leaving then we can’t focus on technology and ignore the humans. Digital transformation is about fundamental changes needed in our organisations where we work, the society where we live, and, perhaps less obviously, in the nature of the leaders and leadership we need."
The Digital Mindset
"If we all needed an MBA to use Facebook, it wouldn't have 2 billion users. In this vlog, Grant explains that getting to grips with digital is not about understanding technology, it's about having a new way of thinking."
Three Steps Towards Developing a Digital Mindset
"Companies need to rethink their strategies to include a digital component, says IESE Prof. Sandra Sieber. This means they need to develop a digital mindset but it also calls for leaders who are capable of adapting to the situation depending on the evolution of the business model. To do this they need supportive structures and processes."
Why digital transformation has little to do with technology!
"Exponential computing power and intelligent algorithms drive human productivity into another dimension and new technologies disrupt long established business models before lunch. How come only a small digital elite sees the potential while the majority of people is either afraid, ignorant or overconfident when it comes to our the digital future?"