The I3 Department (Informatics, Information and Innovation) from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) was presented with an Excellence in Informatics Level 2 Award at the North West Skills Development Network 2019 Connect Conference.
The team is one of eight trusts in the North West who have been accredited with the level 2 award for raising the importance of workforce development in informatics, creating a development culture and sharing good practice across organisations.
The Trust was assessed between September and August 2019.
Andy Wicks, Chief Information Officer, UHMBT, said: “This award is testament to the support of our leaders at UHMBT and the hard work and dedication of my team which they should be extremely proud of.”
The North West’s Skills Development Network’s accreditation scheme, Excellence-in- Informatics, Accrediting your workforce provides a set of standards aimed at promoting the personal and professional development of informatics staff. The standards address five key areas – infrastructure, personal development and career planning, professional development, workforce planning and people management.
In its assessment, the network’s panel was very impressed by the Trust’s I3 brand and its understanding and engagement with all staff members. The team’s culture to develop and grow was very apparent and the work undertaken on the Training Management System portal was impressive.
Keith Griffiths, Director of Finance, UHMBT, said: “We are extremely proud of our Health Informatics team and clinical staff who are working extremely hard to transform our hospitals, support our GPS, community and local authority teams and empower our patients and their families.”
The annual conference was opened by John Glover, Chief Information Officer and Chair and Chair of Informatics Strategy Group. There were also presentations from a variety of speakers including Patrick Mitchell, Director of Innovation and Transformation Health Education England and Paul Rice, Head of Technology Strategy for NHS England.
The North West Skills Development Network (NWSDN) provides an innovative learning and development infrastructure which enables and supports the continuing development of all finance, informatics, procurement and associated staff in the NHS across the North West. This is in line with the NHS Constitution’s pledge to provide all staff with the right skills to develop excellent professionals enabling them to facilitate the delivery of excellent patient care.