NHS Digital Academy

The NHS Digital Academy is a professional development programme in digital health leadership, designed to support senior level capacity building in the NHS. The main partners are Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh, with collaboration from Harvard. The programme is sponsored by NHS England (£6M) and will deliver training to 300 NHS clinicians and technologists over the course of 3 years, with graduates accredited by the Federation of UK Health Informatics Professionals (FEDIP) and, for clinicians, the UK Faculty of Clinical Informatics. Scholarships have also been supported by the NHS in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The programme builds upon Edinburgh's longstanding experience in developing and delivering postgraduate teaching in health informatics/eHealth.

The NHS in England has commissioned the University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London (with Harvard) to deliver a professional learning programme in Digital Health Leadership. The aim is to improve the skills and shared knowledge of senior doctors, nurses, social care providers and IT professionals working in the health and care sector. It is hoped that by doing so, the ability of the NHS to make best use of new technologies will be improved. 300 NHS staff will be trained over 3 years using a combination of online learning and residential workshops.

The first cohort has completed their studies. Feedback has been excellent. The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also contributed resources for scholarships.