Welcome to the July edition of The Digital Academy Newsletter. Here is your monthly round up of all things happening in The Digital Academy and system partners, including learning opportunities, news, updates, events and learning spotlights. Please do email us with your thoughts and feedback and forward to colleagues who may wish to sign up.
Learning opportunities
AI bitesize: AI Ambassador Network
The third in the series of AI bitesize took place at the AI Ambassador Network meeting held on 1 July, “When is AI a medical device and why does it matter?” James Freed, our Deputy Director was joined by Dr Jeffry Hogg, Clinician Scientist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. You can catch up on demand as the bite size AI learning edits can be accessed via the bite size session links on the Digital Academy FutureNHS community.
You can also catch up on the full AI Ambassador network sessions as they are recorded and uploaded to the AI Virtual Hub FutureNHS workspace. You will need to apply to join in order to access the full recordings.
Skills Development Network for Digital, Data and Technology in partnership with professional bodies
Building on the recent exciting announcement from FEDIP and NHS England to professionalise the Digital, Data and Technology workforce, the Skills Development Network has joined forces with professional bodies to deliver a programme of short ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions. They aim to explain the benefits and importance of professional membership and registration.
Various sessions took place in May, June and July with recordings on the Skills Development Network website on their Professionalism and Professional Bodies page. The plan is to re-run sessions in Autumn 2026. A couple are still planned and open for bookings: Lunch & Learn with CHIME, 12 August, Lunch & Learn with IHRIM, 26 October. For more information, please contact christinebanks@nhs.net
Aspiring CIO Group Coaching Programme
The Aspiring CIO Group Coaching programme brings together a small group of senior Digital, Data and Technology professionals, all with CIO as their next career goal, to work through the challenges, decisions and transitions that role requires.
You will be a digital leader, not yet a CIO, but looking to make that step up. It's also a time in a career when a group approach can add an extra element. Not only are you gaining from your own insights, but you're gaining from the insights of the group as a whole, and that safe space supports you to reach further. A free pilot is being offered to start in early September. Find out more and submit an expression of interest.
Latest news
Launch of the College of Leadership and Management
The new NHS College of Leadership and Management will be the national home for NHS leadership, management and talent of excellence. Building on the foundations established through the NHS Leadership Academy, professional bodies and existing leadership communities, the college will help strengthen professional identity, support learning and career development, improve talent management, and provide a recognised quality mark for leadership and management excellence. Find out more.
NHS accelerates AI rollout to cut waiting times and improve care for millions
A major roll out of new artificial intelligence (AI) tools across the NHS is being accelerated to help cut waiting lists and improve care for millions of patients. A new AI triage tool in the NHS App that helps direct patients to the most appropriate NHS service, as well as widespread access to AI notetaking tools to reduce admin for NHS staff, are among the improvements being prioritised across England. Read more.
A new look for the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub
The NHS Knowledge and Library Hub connects healthcare staff and learners to high quality, NHS-funded, knowledge and evidence resources in one place, using a single search. A new design will be rolled out from 7 July. This includes a new option in AI-Assisted Search which takes a search in your own words and returns a highly relevant set of results. Local Knowledge and Library Service teams are happy to help with any questions.
Upcoming and recent events
Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHP) Digital Innovation Festival
The third festival marked another milestone in empowering NMAHP communities to lead digital change, shape more connected care and celebrate their successes. Dr Cristina Vasilica, Associate Professor (Reader) Digital Health and Head of Digital Education at the University of Salford took the opportunity to reflect on this recent event, with James Freed, our Deputy Director very much playing his part on the day. Read her insights.
Innovation insights: Health Innovation Network
Register to join the next Innovation insights free to attend webinar - Making room for innovation: A practical model for de-implementation on 7 July 11:00 to 12:00. Successful innovation often depends on retiring old practices. This session share insights from Health Innovation Wessex to de-risk transformation. You can also catch up on the series on demand.
AI Nurses Network Conference 2026
Join this free national conference for nurses and AI researchers on 1 September 2026 from 10:00 to 15:30 at King’s College London exploring the current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, models, and tools in nursing. The full day, in person conference is hosted by Dr Siobhan O’Connor, King’s College London and co-funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing and NIHR Academy. Find out more about the conference and register.
DigiGov Expo 2026
We are delighted to be on a panel at the DigiGov Exp 2026, the UK’s leading public sector tech event, taking place at Excel, London on 23-24 September. The event brings together 3000+ digital, data and technology experts from central government, local authorities and the wider public sector with 200+ public sector and tech leaders sharing real-world government case studies. Free for the public sector. Register to attend.
Recently published
Digital Integrated Care System (ICS) Programme insights
The Digital ICS programme, supported by the NHS Digital Academy in partnership with NHS Alliance and Public Digital was a free support offer designed to support all integrated care board (ICB) and integrated care system (ICS) leaders to better harness digital transformation to enable delivery of system ambitions. It ran for three years until June 2025 and you can read all about the insights and learnings from the programme on our FutureNHS community.
De-skilling, mis-skilling, never-skilling: an AI-ready workforce needs a skill-decay strategy
Everyone is asking whether the NHS workforce is ready for AI, but we should also be asking whether it’s ready to work safely without it, writes Yvette Khozam, chief pharmacy information officer at Mid and South Essex and Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. Yvette, DHLP alumnus shares her thoughts around De-Skilling, Mis-Skilling, and Never-Skilling as it pertains to AI and mitigations we can start putting in place to ensure that we're actively addressing these risks. Read the article.
Helping patients understand ambient voice technology
Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex has published a new set of resources to support conversations with patients about voice technology (AVT) in healthcare appointments. The patient video explains what AVT is and how it may be used. It also explains how AVT can reduce admin work, so clinicians can focus more on the patient. The video answers common questions from patients and supports digital inclusion. Read more.
Digital Nation 2026
What is the state of the UK's digital divide? Each year, Good Things Foundation gathers new facts and stats to reveal the reality of digital exclusion. The latest update of their Digital Nation infographic brings together recent data on digital exclusion and the impact of digital inclusion support from a range of resources. Find out more.
Learning spotlight
Gill Horne: From Topol Fellow to driving change in care and AI
Gill Horne Programme Director - Care Services, Rowcroft Hospice sat down with Tash Willcocks from the Topol Fellowship delivery team to talk about what’s happened since Gill graduated. Gill's original Topol Fellowship project focused on the future of a new nursing home, exploring how AI could be used meaningfully in care.
Gill talks powerfully about the ripple effect beyond the project, confidence through doing and the impact which extended beyond individual projects. Read her story.
Digital Profession
The Digital Profession team volunteering day
The Digital Profession team at NHS England recently undertook a volunteering day at a refugee community centre in Leeds as part of Refugee Week. This annual initiative raises awareness, fosters empathy and celebrates the contributions refugees make to local and national communities. Find out more about their day.
The Digital Profession team are looking for real stories from the digital workforce
The team are currently updating the NHS Health Careers website to better showcase Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) roles and want to bring these pages to life through real experiences.
They are keen to hear from colleagues across the system, particularly within Trusts. By sharing your story, you’ll help inspire school and university leavers, people considering a career change and the next generation of the NHS digital workforce. Find out more about the roles they are keen to hear about and get in touch to share your story.
Podcast in focus
Future Nurse Notes Live!
The July edition takes place live at the third annual Festival of Digital Nursing, Midwifery and AHPs at Salford University. Natasha Phillips, Founder of Future Nurse meets the people who make transformation happen on the ground, exploring what really enables digital change in nursing. Our Deputy Director, James Freed joins the conversation and explains how Chief Nursing Information Officers are playing a significant role in the national digital literacy agenda and encourages us to be careful about believing the hype about digital innovation. Listen to the podcast.
Enrol on our courses
NHS England have a range of bulletins covering primary care, nursing, mental health, transformation, NHS IMPACT and other topics.
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