My Digital Unacademy

  “Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.” – Mahatma Gandhi Our journey started at a meeting chaired by the Deputy Director of Operations (DDOP) for Unscheduled Care on 9 th October 2014; whilst discussing (and mildly put – disagreeing on) the time patients waited for clinical assessments on our 36 bedded Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This discussion (and ensuing difference of opinions) demonstrated that the group felt passionately about patients being seen in a timely manner and this highlighted the need to measure key quality indicators on AMU.  “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein From time immemorial, our AMU used a traditional white board - a standard grid board with combinations of magnets/symbols, coloured handwritten patient details and squiggles by clinicians representing clinical reviews being completed. The white board was augmented by an A3

 My Digital Unacademy In early November last year (2019) I received an ‘unfavourable response’ to my application to Cohort 3 of the prestigious NHS Digital Academy (Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Health Leadership). Although receipt of this news initially left me feeling dejected, in the spirit of wanting to bounce back I set out on a journey of development and learning through the following steps of My Digital Unacademy . ! The ‘steps’ covered through this write-up, are an expression and reflection of my opinions based on   my personal knowledge, attitudes, preferences, experience and circumstances i.e. what I felt worked for me.! Also, for the record; other than being a ‘clinical informatician’ working for the NHS, being a Member of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics (FCI) and as a current student with HFMA – an HFMA member, I have no conflicts of interest to declare -the resources mentioned in this write up are simply the ones that have resonated with me on a personal note du