HEE offers NHS staff funded course on digital healthcare

Health Education England (HEE) is seeking applicants for 30 new digital health fellowships.

GPs are among the NHS staff able to apply, regardless of whether they are training or in a permanent role. Nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, dentists and healthcare scientists are also eligible, with a further five places earmarked for dermatologists.

Recruitment began this week and continues for the rest of the month, until 30 September.

The roles are aimed to ‘help clinical professionals build digital health expertise into their careers’, and those who ultimately enrol onto the scheme will receive funding equivalent of up to 40% of their salary, so they have allocated time to work on the digital initiatives.

This is the second cohort of the Topol Programme for Digital Fellowships, and follows recommendations set out in last year’s Topol Review that aimed to make the NHS a world leader in benefitting patients through ‘innovative technology’.

Successful candidates will be supported in designing and delivering digital health projects alongside their employing trusts, as well as being able to access workshops focusing on leading digital health transformations for staff and patients within the health service.

Patrick Mitchell, director of innovation and transformation at HEE, said: ‘The use of digital technologies including AI, robotics and digital medicine are shaping up to be central to the future of healthcare delivery’.

Those interested can apply here.

HEE previously stated that digital consultations should be part of the GP trainee curriculum. Meanwhile, a recent BMA survey shows that the vast majority (90%) of GPs wish to continue with remote consultations once Covid-19 has passed.

As previously published on our sister title Pulse.