IT’S LIKELY THAT DIGITAL UPSKILLING WILL FEATURE HEAVILY IN CPD ACTIVITIES IN OUR NEAR-TERM AND LONG-TERM FUTURES
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along into the brave new world – and that means being informed and confident to do so.
Whilst many of us would report our own digital skills as being satisfactory, or better, it is key that we continue to improve our skills so that we can fully leverage these new systems and maximise their full value. The healthcare strategies set out how the workforce will be kept up to date and enabled to embrace what is set to be an ongoing change in how we do our jobs.
These strategies highlight capability development, provision of efficient training approaches, and the use of “digital champions”, amongst others to make these transitions comfortable for pharmacists and other professionals, enhancing our practices rather than heightening our workload. We are already seeing the need for ongoing digital skills, with the latest set of standards from the GPhC calling for student pharmacists to be able to “keep abreast of new technologies and use data and digital
technologies to improve clinical outcomes and patient safety, keeping to information governance principles” – knowing this, it’s likely that digital upskilling will feature heavily in CPD activities in our near-term and long-term futures.4
Data Security, Privacy and Risk Management
The conspicuous mention of “data governance principles” by the GPhC is telling of one of the key concerns which accompanies the digitisation of any data - but particularly health data. In this new world of “everything digital all the time”, the security of data is one of the kingpins in making digital healthcare work, and to maintain the trust of our patients. Within the digital healthcare strategies, data governance centres on the technical aspects of keeping data secure, as well as the rules around access, how this is granted, and how it is maintained. This too will have an impact on how pharmacists practice – think about where your PMR terminals are now for example, how easily could a patient’s data be read from
those by someone who shouldn’t be privy to it? The answer might not be a good one – and this would only be worsened when a greater level of data is available. The good news here though is that many of the fixes for this are practical, but it’s important to know about the more complicated aspects too, to maintain that patient trust, which is at the core of what we do.
It's almost comforting to know that integrated and expansive digital healthcare is coming, whether we like it or not, and whilst stumbling blocks are going to feature as we move ahead, the destination is one which benefits everyone – patients will become more informed stakeholders in their own health, and we’ll be better equipped to support them as they do so. What’s not to like?
References 1. Digital Strategy 2022-2030. Health and Social Care Northern Ireland, 2022.
2. Digital health and care strategy. Scottish Government, 2021;
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-digital-health-care- strategy/pages/3/. Accessed 20/03/2023, 2023.
3. Corbett DJ, Hall M, Hanna L-A, Barry HE. 13 The Ongoing Emergence of Technology in Healthcare to Enhance Patient Outcomes. Emerging Drug Delivery and Biomedical Engineering Technologies: Transforming Therapy. 2023:195.
4. Standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists. General Pharmaceutical Council, 2021.
IT IS KEY THAT WE CONTINUE TO IMPROVE OUR SKILLS SO THAT WE CAN FULLY LEVERAGE THESE NEW SYSTEMS AND MAXIMISE THEIR FULL VALUE
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