Beyond the hospital: How boards can lead the digital shift to neighbourhood working
Questions for boards
Here are some key questions for NHS trust board members to consider in order to explore how prepared they are for a shift to neighbourhood working:
- How are we preparing as a trust for the move to neighbourhood working and have we reviewed our current investments and strategies to ensure they support this agenda?
- Is our digital portfolio explicitly prioritised and funded to support the holistic needs of the target patient cohorts, with a focus on social and psychological enablement as well as clinical efficiency?
- What is the current maturity of our data-sharing agreements and interoperability with statutory (Local Authority, GPs, Mental Health) and non-statutory Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise (VCSFE) partners? How are we mitigating the risk of fragmented data causing clinical safety incidents in the community?
- How are we transitioning from time-limited digital project budgets towards long-term, sustainable platform and operational funding that supports continuous improvement, neighbourhood working and the evolution of the Shared Care Record?
- Given the increased cyber risks associated with mobile working and wider data sharing do we have robust and assured cyber security controls and training in place to protect sensitive patient information across neighbourhood team working?
- How are we identifying, measuring and mitigating the risk of digital exclusion for vulnerable neighbourhood populations to ensure that digital tools reduce, rather than exacerbate, health inequalities?
- Do we have a workforce plan that ensures all staff moving to neighbourhood roles have the digital skills, confidence, and mobile tools they need? How is the board monitoring adoption, capability and satisfaction?
- Are our data and analytics capabilities moving beyond statutory reporting to deliver actionable insights for care co-ordination and population health management, enabling proactive prevention and the reduction of inequalities at neighbourhood level?