NLAG NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
and we are regularly asked to look at devices to make sure they are locked down as much as possible .”
The Digital / IT team runs two separate trusts and is currently on a transformational journey to create a single Digital / IT service for them both .
This includes consolidating digital solutions wherever they can to create a seamless experience for more than 16,000 employees .
“ When I was at a Canadian Health Authority ,” McMahon continues , “ I had a single digital service that supported eight hospitals and a number of community centres . We had a single service desk and a central team .
“ It was less costly to run , more efficient , gives your team more resilience and also an opportunity to improve the knowledge and skills of that whole digital team . I ’ m now working with our employees and using some external organisational development support to help us go through that culture change , because it is a very different way of working when you ’ ve been used to just working in one organisation .”
One of the first things McMahon did was recruit in order to have a single senior leadership team in place . Three senior clinical leaders are supporting her , along with three senior operational leaders . their dotted-line relationship is a big help in allowing the team to get the message out that they are a single service .
“ The challenge now is bringing the solutions together so that the end users have a seamless experience ,” McMahon continues . “ We ’ re now looking at how we can bring all those solutions in to support everybody .”
This will take a few years to complete , but is cause for excitement .
“ I have excellent staff supporting me , and the trust board and executive teams
are there to help make it work .” For Weavill , successful digitalisation involves utilising the most modern of technologies without hesitation .
“ In my particular area of radiology , it cannot function without digital ,” he says . “ Everything is computerised . The days of printing out a hard x-ray film and the doctor holding it up to the light have been gone for 20 years .”
“ Successful digitalisation to me is not so much about the outcomes ; it ’ s about the attitudes and the culture . Our clinicians are now asking how they can digitise something . Successful digitalisation involves relationship management .”
McMahon is working to consolidate the two digital IT service departments , while
142 May 2023