This spring we conducted research with different professional groups within the NENC health and social care workforce to understand their current digital skills and readiness, the training that’s available to them, and their immediate training needs. We quickly identified a common thread in these conversations: generic training implemented from outside the sector seldom works. To involve the sector in designing the training it needs, we needed to give the organisations the opportunity to apply for the funding they otherwise may not have been able to access.
With this in mind, we designed the Training Funding Call to commission digital skills training for the health and care sector in the North East and North Cumbria (NENC). EPSRC funding eligibility typically excludes organisations that don’t fall under research or higher education. Building on the process we developed for our research awards, we developed an EPSRC-compliant process which was simultaneously open to the voluntary sector, local authorities, social care and work providers, SMEs, start-ups, and other organisations and individuals that would otherwise have been excluded from the opportunity.
We were delighted to receive a total of 28 proposals from a diverse selection of applicants aiming to develop a range of digital skills across the sector. While we couldn’t fund every application, we will leverage the interest in the Funding Call to evidence the need to redefine the eligibility criteria of funders like UKRI and EPSRC and broaden access to digital health research and training.
We carried this principle through to the application evaluation and award stage, by ensuring our Funding Board included representatives of the voluntary sector as well as academics and healthcare professionals. Each application was also reviewed by a PPIE (Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement) representative.
Following the Training Funding Call, NortHFutures has funded 5 training projects designed to address digital skills gaps among the health and social care workforces in NENC. We awarded £114k in funding to initiatives, which:
- Provide training based on a well-evidenced digital skills gap;
- Tailored their training delivery to fit the everyday realities of health and social care workers;
- Are designed to deliver impact across the region;
- Are free at the point of access.
Summary of the funded training
Leveraging, and learning about, digital development for social work practitioners, practice educators, and education providers within the North Cumbria health and social care footprint
Project lead: Amanda Taylor-Beswick, Cumbria University
Project team: Laura Snell
Audience: Social work
Summary: The project will provide digital upskilling and reskilling for social workers in collaboration with Cumberland Council. Training content will be both generic and informed by the results of an initial digital capabilities and confidence self-assessment completed by all participants. The contents will be designed to reflect regulatory digital requirements, the UK Government’s recently announced shift from analogue to digital, and aspects of the newly proposed digital social care education programme, as well as regulator and employer CPD requirements. Simultaneously, the project will provide a better understanding of the digital skills and needs of the social work workforce to inform future initiatives.
Great North Care Record Training Enhancement – Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Project
Project lead: Bethany Taylor, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Project team: Michael Lowdon, Rebecca Wake, Peta Le Roux, Azza Mohamed
Audience: VCSE, Social Care and social work, Nurses and midwives, Doctors, Pharmacists, Allied Health Professionals
Summary: The Great North Care Record (GNCR) is a shared care record in the Northeast and North Cumbria region, bringing healthcare together. Amassing around 1 million views per month, the GNCR allows for collaboration between trusts, local authorities, GP’s, North East Ambulance Service, community, mental health, 0-19 services, maternity services and hospices. This project will implement an AI-powered search feature into the GNRC website, pre-populated with peer knowledge, training materials and how-to guides, to help develop health and social care professionals’ knowledge about the GNRC and gain confidence using the system in their everyday practice and decision-making.
Upskilling for Generative Artificial Intelligence in VCSE and Social Care Work: A Train-The-Trainers Approach
Project lead: David Kirk, Newcastle University
Project team: Adam Parnaby
Audience: Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSE), Social Care and social work
Summary: The project will provide training for both VCSE and care organisations who are engaged in delivering health and social care services to develop their understanding of Generative AI technologies, and the ways in which they can be used in the health and social care sector, including Large Language Models such as ChatGPT. Through a “Train-the-Trainer" model, the training will support organisations to have a deeper understanding of how these technologies work, the opportunities and risk they pose, and how to develop an effective AI policy.
Digital Healthcare Training for Medical Healthcare Educators in the North East Region
Project lead: Paul Hubbard, Newcastle University
Project team: Edward Meinert
Audience: Nurses and midwives, Doctors
Summary: The expansion in the number of medical schools and medical students in the North East mean that most healthcare workers will be required to teach medical students as part of their work portfolio. As digital healthcare becomes incorporated into the medical curriculum, clinical educators will need to have the skills to prepare students for their future practice in an environment where digital technologies and artificial intelligence are increasingly utilised in clinical practice. This project will create an online professional development course to train medical educators in the basics of digital healthcare and methods to incorporate practical teaching methods for teaching digital healthcare concepts to medical students and future healthcare providers.
Mobile Meditations: Co-developing a training toolkit for peer support mental health recovery
Project lead: Alice Highet, artist
Project team: Alisdair Cameron, Jan Debognies
Audience: VCSE
Summary: This project aims to co-design and co-develop a tech-based toolkit for peer support mental health recovery and management in collaboration with the Recovery College Collective. Mobile Meditations (MM) are a series of innovative, accessible, embodied smartphones filmmaking workshops tackling digital exclusion and mental health. Participants will use fast technologies (smartphones) to make slow art, developing a less passive, more active relationship with technology. During the project, participants will make their own films, culminating in a public screening. This gives participants an accessible and creative way into filmmaking, digital skills and builds creative agency and voice. It also introduces them to mindfulness techniques, providing mental health strategies and new ways of being in the world.
NortHFutures is committed to supporting applicants in developing their proposals for future funding opportunities. We are currently developing sessions on identifying viable funding sources, effective bid writing, monitoring and evaluation, and effective project team management. Applications will be open to anyone interested in developing their bid development skills, with a limit number of places available.
To find out more about the sessions and register your interest, get in touch with us at northfutures.admin@newcastle.ac.uk.