Reflections on cohort 5 of the Topol Digital Fellowship

Cohort 5 of the Topol Digital Fellowship has now completed, and a further 50 talented individuals have contributed to the NHS’s digital transformation journey.

You can find out more about their achievements and time on the fellowship on our Future NHS page.

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Reflecting on the closing ceremony of Cohort 5, Tash Willcocks TPX Impact who co-facilitated the day with our delivery partners at Health Innovation Wessex shares her experience:

What a way to finish such a valuable experience.

The NHS Digital Academy gathered Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, TPXimpact, and the Topol Fellows in Birmingham for the day, to share the Fellows posters, celebrate the amazing work they have done and close Cohort 5.

For those less familiar, the Topol Fellowship is a year-long programme supporting digital transformation across the NHS, giving Fellows the time, space, and backing to lead real change in complex, high-pressure environments. Around 50 Fellows take part each year, and we’ve had the privilege of contributing from 2019 through to 2026.

Across that time, we’ve worked with an incredible mix of clinicians, analysts, nurses and leaders, all driving improvement alongside already demanding roles.

TPXImpact focused on User Centred Design (UCD) and agile, from interactive workshops (design, research, discovery, testing, delivery) through to Munch ‘n’ Learns on topics like digital transformation, storytelling, accessibility, and reducing health inequalities, alongside coaching, drop-ins and peer learning spaces.

The delivery and management of the fellowship was led by Health Innovation Wessex who planned the running of the fellowship, provided pastoral support and supported the fellows on their digital transformation journey. Colleagues at Guys and St Thomas led the AI workstreams throughout the fellowship, providing various intermediate and advanced masterclasses to support the fellows in this space.

The final day was one of those rare and valuable moments: in-person, reflective, and sharing our experiences. We mapped the year together, the highs, the challenges, what helped, and what got in the way. Alongside real-life constraints like governance, time, and competing priorities, there were also moments of connection, confidence-building, and sustained peer support.

What stands out every year is the scale of what Fellows achieve, not through perfect delivery, but through navigating complexity, adapting, and taking the time to truly understand user needs. That recurring shift, "Who are we actually designing this for?", remains one of the most important.

The poster presentations were, as expected, exceptional, thoughtful, honest, and impactful. Creating more space for these this year really paid off; there is so much to learn simply by listening.
A huge thank you to everyone involved, Fellows, mentors, partners, and all those working behind the scenes to make it happen.

And to the Fellows: the commitment you bring, alongside everything else you are managing, is significant. You continue to show up, lead change, and make progress where it matters.
It’s been a privilege to be part of it.

You can read more of our learning spotlights if you are interested to hear from our Topol fellows and other alumni from our NHS Digital Academy learning programmes.