Workforce development programme wins HR award

A programme set up to give staff opportunities to spend time observing how frontline NHS staff use technology has been highly commended at an awards ceremony held in Cardiff last month.

 

NHS Wales Informatics Service won the accolade at the Welsh Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA) awards for the Health Informatics Frontline Vocational Experience (HI-FIVE) programme which has seen more than thirty staff undertake frontline placements in both primary and secondary care.

HPMA - the professional voice of HR in healthcare - holds an awards ceremony every year in Wales and this is the first time the NHS Wales Informatics Service has entered.

The HI-FIVE programme was piloted in 2014 by the Informatics Service Management Trainees. They came up with the idea after finding that staff working in information and technology often missed out on the opportunity to see the IT systems they are supporting and developing being used in settings such as GP practices and hospital wards.

Two staff who have taken part in Health Informatics Frontline Vocational Experience (HI FiVE) shared their experiences:-
                                                                                              
Josebha Santhini, Testing Team, said, “I asked myself 'what will I do differently following my placement?'  I will be able to think from a user perspective as well, while doing test preparations and testing. It has opened a door to make further contact in relation to CANISC (IT system used in cancer services) and my one week placement opportunity turned into an enthusiasm to continue providing better qualitative work on CANISC and testing.”

Sian Davies, Information Services, said “The data that I work with will now mean more to me.  I knew already what it all meant from a patient’s point of view, but now will also have an understanding of the data from a hospital’s point of view”.

 

Claire Heirene, Organisational Development Manager, whose team manages the programme, said “Undertaking a HI-FIVE placement provides staff with the opportunity to observe first-hand the challenges of delivering healthcare and also how frontline staff and clinicians interact with Information Technology in real time.  This highlights the importance of what our staff do and how they do it, and enables them to see the difference their work is making to the delivery of patient care across NHS Wales”.

If you are a healthcare organisation in Wales and you are interested in hosting a HI-FIVE placement - contact us.