When introducing digital champions into your workforce, it’s important for each organisation to have the tools in place to allow them to fulfil their role. Please see the ten factors below that everyone should consider.
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Digital must be a priority and an enabler
Organisations need to make the use of digital technology a priority and key enabler, for improving the delivery of care. They need to give champions the ability and opportunities to work with colleagues, in supporting this shared priority.
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Suitable digital environment
Make sure that your digital champions have the right equipment and access to digital technology that is relevant to the skills they are supporting.
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Views from colleagues
Proactively seek ideas from staff who are closest to people drawing on care and support about how technology could support and improve the delivery of person-centred care. This area of skills and learning is covered under theme 1 of the Digital Skills Framework.
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Your confidence
The passion and enthusiasm of your digital champions starts with you. Make sure you’re coming across confident in your approach and familiarise yourself with the language and terms involved when using digital technology.
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Professional Development Plans
Use your objectives to build digital capabilities into the appraisals and development plans of your champions and those they’re supporting. This area covered under theme 7 of the Digital Skills Framework.
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Safe handling of information
It is important that rules and principles are set out and communicated over how digital/electronic information is managed and used within your organisation, when people are using digital technology. This area is covered under theme 4 of the Digital Skills Framework.
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Bank of resources
You will need to prioritise which areas of digital that your champions will support and make sure that they have a range of resources available to help them. For more information, please see the digital skills training database.
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Your support
It’s vital to make your digital champions feel valued. This may include allocating protected time so that they can balance the commitment alongside their day-to-day role.
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Measurable objectives
A clear set of objectives should be developed to help guide the training of your champions and the support they offer.
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Short ‘bite-sized’ learning
Your digital champions’ training and the support they offer colleagues needs to be ‘bite-sized’ and flexible so that it can fit around their day-to-day roles.
Find out more
To read some success stories and practical examples of how digital champions schemes have worked in practice, please see the following case studies and toolkits below:
Manor Community’s Story: Trialling an informal messaging app for Social Care
Digital by choice: becoming part of a digitally ready general practice team
NHS Merseyside – Driving a digital future
For practical advice in developing a digital champions programme, please see some further information below:
Digital champions programme toolkit – Health Education England
For more information on digital champions, please visit the Skills for Care website.