Bridging the digital divide - Digital Ambassadors in Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Mel Briers and Hannah Baxter, Digital Nurse Specialists at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust share their insights and learnings and how digital literacy is no longer optional – it is essential.

In today’s increasingly digital world, being able to work effectively with technology is critical to delivering high-quality care.

At its core, digital capability is about connecting people with the right knowledge at the right time and building a confident, well-equipped workforce that can thrive in a digitally enabled environment.

In parallel, there is often uncertainty, and sometimes resistance, around the use of new technologies. Many of these tools are vital to the success of digital transformation and to improving patient care. A shortage of digital leadership and skills, particularly in areas such as data analytics, change management, and evaluation, is further slowing the pace of progress (Digital Health, 2021).

However, one approach has proved to be consistently effective: digital champions. A review by NHS Health Education England and the RCN (2017) found evidence that embedding digital champion, or ambassadors, within teams is one of the most successful strategies for promoting digital confidence and skill in the workplace.

At Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, we have embraced this model. For over a year, our Digital Ambassadors, staff from across the organisation who are curious, motivated, and eager to support digital change, have been making a real difference. These ambassadors come from a wide range of clinical and non-clinical backgrounds and bring unique insights and experience to their teams. We offer them the opportunity to get involved in trust wide projects and to be early adopters of new solutions, because we know that frontline staff often have valuable insights and that their enthusiasm is infectious.

But we recognise that not all ambassadors begin their journey with the same level of confidence. They may, however, have a wealth of skills that mean they are just the right people to sit alongside colleagues who are less digitally capable and support them. Our ambassadors each bring a unique set of skills, and we want to recognise and exploit that.

In return we offer lunchtime bitesize learning sessions, the opportunity to shadow the Digital Team and an online network to share ideas and learning. More importantly they get a Digital Ambassador lanyard and badge.

Those that want to expand their role can attend our Ambassador Plus Programme, a two day course that focuses on leading digital change.

Over the past year, our ambassadors have made significant contributions, including introducing a new font to support staff with dyslexia, leading a small project to develop a post-surgical self-care video (reducing the need for outpatient visits), and participating in the procurement implementation and evaluation of a home exercise programme app for use across the entire Trust.

Ambassadors have gone on to gain promotions in digital roles, one has gained a place on the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme and others have had digital projects published. Several ambassadors have trained to become Clinical Safety Officers and are now able to support our Digital Clinical Team with essential clinical safety reports. 

In a landscape where resources are stretched and the pace of change is rapid; the role of our Digital Ambassadors has never been more important. From supporting colleagues with digital tools to leading improvement projects, they are shaping a more confident, capable workforce and bridging the gap between digital opportunity and operational reality.

But more importantly they are also helping to build a strong digital culture, one that values learning, collaboration, and improvement.