New programme offers all AHPs the opportunity to build digital and data skills

A Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) Collaboration has led to the launch of a new digital education programme that gives physiotherapists and all UK Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) access to digital and data knowledge and practical skills.

Funded by NHS England Digital Academy and by the CSP Charitable Trust, the CSP, in collaboration with Keele University, EL Healthcare Education and the other AHP professional bodies has launched the Digital and Data Foundations education programme.

Open Access for all AHPs

The programme has been fully funded so is free to access for all UK AHPs (including students and support workers). Although hosted by the NHS England Digital Academy, access is open for those not working in the NHS and working in other parts of the UK.

The programme is module-based with bite-sized content allowing for learners to access it in their own time around other work or studying commitments. It is supported by multimedia, interactive content, case studies from real AHPs, and reflective activities to support the AHP to apply the learning in their own team, service or setting.

Prabha Vijayakumar, NHS England chief AHP information officer, said “The training is designed so that it caters to the needs of the learner, not just one profession, one setting or one level of professional maturity. It is flexible and adaptable to the organisations and to the skills gaps of the learner.”

“We want digital and data to be comfortable for AHPs at all levels. That will create digitally mature and data-enabled AHP services, and ultimately, visible digital AHP leadership”

Benefit for learners

The programme is designed to provide a solid foundation of digital and data education specifically for AHPs across the UK.

Euan McComiskie, CSP Health Informatics Lead, said “We’ve collaborated with AHP colleagues and academic experts to make this education programme work for all learners regardless of their digital or data expertise at the start of the course. The interactive elements of the programme and the reflective activities will keep the learner engaged and give them personalised outputs in their part of the AHP world.”

Watch the video: Introducing the Digital and Data Foundations programme - offering practical skills for UK AHPs

Impact for system

Kim Diprose, NHS England Senior Program Manager, said “It’s fantastic to see a resource that’s going to help AHPs to use data more effectively so that we can demonstrate the impact of the services they’re delivering.”

“If we can have digital AHPs in the conversation then we can actually start to make a difference, particularly in the shift towards prevention, and into the community.”

Access to the programme

After completing a short registration process, all UK AHPs (including students and support workers) can gain access to the programme through the NHS Digital Academy Campus.