About the Digital Health Leadership Programme
Digital Health Leadership Programme (DHLP)Including key dates, time commitments, funding and student support information.
Background
The Digital Health Leadership Programme (DHLP) is an important Digital Academy programme. Established in 2017 following a Secretary of State commitment on the back of the Wachter Review, it aims to address the need to develop and invest in the capability and capacity of digital change leaders. The DHLP is delivered by Imperial College London and partners and is now entering its 6th cohort, with learners due to start their journey from September 2023. Around 500 change leaders have completed or are completing the programme to date.
What is the Digital Health Leadership Programme?
The programme is a 12-month fully accredited Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Digital Health Leadership and is funded centrally. It is delivered through 8 modules via a mixed delivery model including self-learning with group virtual and group face-to-face sessions. Participants who successfully complete the PGDip have the option to extend their learning journey by completing a master’s degree (subject to participants securing their own funding, this master’s option isn’t funded centrally).
We have secured places for 108 change leaders from across the health and care workforce in England for Cohort 6.
Key dates
5 April to 14 May 2023 – Application window open
- Submit your application form by 23.59 on 14 May
- Sponsor to submit the senior organisational sponsor form
Late June 2023 - outcomes communicated
Applicants will be notified if they have been successful or unsuccessful in their application.
- Successful applicants will then start the enrolment process with Imperial College London. Learning will begin in September 2023.
- Applicants placed on the reserve list will be notified before the start of Cohort 6 if place has become available for them. Those on the reserve list who are not offered a place on cohort 6, will be offered a guaranteed ring-fenced place on a future Cohort. This is subject to them still meeting the necessary eligibility criteria for that cohort, and subject to future cohorts receiving approval to proceed.
- Unsuccessful applicants will be given the option to receive more detailed feedback on their application.
End June to September 2023
Successful applicants submit the Imperial College Application form which is reviewed by the College’s admissions team. You will need supporting documentation to successfully obtain a place. The documentation can be found on the Imperial College application guide.
September 2023 – Start the Digital Health Leadership Programme
Teaching for Cohort 6 of the Digital Health Leadership Programme will run from 4 September 2023 to 4 August 2024. The deadline for the final assessment is the end of August 2024. In-person leadership forums will take place on the following dates:
- 28 and 29 September 2023
- 26 March 2024
- 27 June 2024
We expect that students commit to these dates, and participate fully in the learning sessions, together with their peers.
The end of Cohort 6 celebration (in-person) - will take place in April 2025 (date to be confirmed) and we would hope that all our delegates will be able to attend.
Time commitments
Experience tells us that around 10-15 hours of study time/work is required outside of work, per week. The programme contents specify about 25-30 hours in total, but this includes the time spent applying your learning to your work, within working hours.
Your overall workload consists of weekly online learning sessions and independent learning on the virtual learning environment and through work-based learning. While your actual time spent working through content may vary according to the modules you study, the following gives an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities at each level of the programme. At Imperial, each European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credit taken equates to an expected total study time of 25 hours. Therefore, the expected total study time is 187.5 hours per 7.5 ECTS module, for a total of 1500 for the PGDip and 2250 for the MSc.
We expect that you will spend 15-20% of the time engaging with online content, while the remainder will be comprised of independent and group study, completion of assignments, and up to 50% of your time directly applying your learning into practice through multiple improvement projects in your organisation.
Funding
Places are funded through the (NHS England) Digital Academy. Funding also covers overnight stays for multi-day leadership forums, as arranged by Imperial. This is significant central funding support per delegate and is in place to ensure delegates get the most value possible from the programme.
Individuals (via their organisation’s policy) will need to pay for: travel and related subsistence expenses (for example, meals while travelling) as well as any additional accommodation either side of a leadership forum.
Support available from Imperial College London (ICL)
Imperial College London have lots of support available for students.
Related information
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Imperial College application guide
Information and documentation required to complete the admissions and enrolment process
Page last reviewed: 3 April 2023
Next review due: 3 April 2024