Data and digital
Information and resources on data and digital advancements and skills for Knowledge and Library Staff.
Overview of the topic
The Topol Review (2019) identified the need to engage and support the healthcare workforce in a rapidly changing and highly technological workplace. Knowledge and Library staff will need to build skills in response to these rapid changes.
Contents
- Context
- Terminology
- Resources
Context
Upskilling of knowledge and library staff in data and digital competencies is vital to supporting the needs of users. Digital projects are usually delivered by multidisciplinary partnerships. Knowledge and library staff have vital roles as digital leaders within these teams. The skills around data and digital are outlined in the CILIP Professional Knowledge and Skills Base.
The language around data and digital work can often be confusing and vary between the specialities. The concepts however are familiar to librarians, and we have a lot to add to digital projects to shape their success.
Goldacre (2022) states “Data is at the core of all good work in healthcare. Data is how researchers learn which treatments work best, and for which patients.” The Department of Health & Social Care (2022) claims “Data Saves Lives.” Knowledge and library staff know that data is the building block of information, which given context and additional learning becomes knowledge. We can support the mobilisation of data driven knowledge (which is sometimes known as mobilising computable biomedical knowledge). Just as how knowledge and library staff support the translation of evidence in to policy or practice, knowledge and library staff can support the translation of data in the same way.
It is important for knowledge and library services to be a human bridge between technological development and our staff, patients and the public. Libraries have a pivotal role in supporting the use of computers and technology and the understanding of health information and data. Knowledge and library staff are also champions of digital inclusion to support people in accessing and using the technology and information to support health care decisions.
Terminology
Data engineering incorporates the collection, management, validation and conversion of raw data into usable information for data scientists and business analysts. This can involve information and process mapping and data curation. Many of these skills are evident in library collection management e.g. metadata and cataloguing.
Data bias is the equivalent to critical appraisal of information. The same errors we critique in papers are true of data sets e.g., sample size, errors in collection, missing data etc.
Automation can come in several different forms, sometimes it is about mapping information and improving the information captured, storage, and output shared. We can use machine learning (ML) to do simple automation tasks e.g. a chat bot or artificial intelligence (AI) which learns from continuous input and adapts results accordingly. The NHS AI Lab (2022) has further definitions.
Programming learning R, Python and SQL can help the knowledge and library services improve the output of their own data into dashboards and supports our researchers to improve outputs for publication (data visualisation) and making the data tell a story.
Resources
FEDIP is the umbrella organisation supporting digital professionals including ICT, informatics, clinical coders, project managers and knowledge & library professionals.
NHS Skills Development Network operates across NHS organisations in England. It provides access to events and resources for personal development for informatics professionals, finance and procurement staff.
Multi-Agency Advice Service () Understanding Regulations of AI and Digital Technology in Health and Social Care. A comprehensive website with access to all regulations and guidelines for developing and implementing AI & digital technologies.
Courses
This is an international movement of librarians who volunteer to introduce terms, phrases, and concepts in software development and data science to librarians.
PG Cert in Clinical Data Sciences
A multidisciplinary course launching September 2023. Consists of four modules: data engineering; maths, stats and machine learning; data visualization and communication; human factors and digital transformation. Designed in collaboration with library professionals looking at supporting practical skills and application and includes an alumni for future collaboration. Register interest via National School of Healthcare Science to help establish interest.
Online Learning
Extend your membership of CILIP to FEDIP to gain additional training opportunities through e-learning, presentations, and events. With CILIP membership there are discounts to conferences etc. offered by partner digital professions.
The Robotic Process Automation (RPA) programme is comprised of 6 modules designed to help you understand everything about the software which is used to automate routine and mundane tasks to improve productivity and efficiency. It is a basic 'how to guidance' covering developing procuring and implementing.
Two free courses aimed at front line NHS staff. Course 1 is an introduction to digital health, key concepts, challenges and opportunities. Course 2 looks at the importance of prescribing digital health.
Home of Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) run by universities as introductions to their courses. Good starting points for growing your knowledge in this area.
Health Data Research UK Futures
Sign up for free for bite sized learning on public patient involvement in research, programming and working with data. Aimed at researchers, this gives a great introduction to the topic. The HDR UK Gateway also has a list of more formal related courses from Universities, shared tools and papers around data science.
Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative
Take your Office 365 skills to the next level using these courses which are free to the NHS. Learn more about dashboards with Power BI or how to automate information flows with PowerAutomate.
Networks
Aimed at the data and analytics community they promote events and training programmes as well as sharing ideas and current projects. Great place to ask questions and learn about the sector.
Group for knowledge & library professionals to exchange knowledge, promote new opportunities and explored shared learning around new technologies.
Mobilising Computable Biomedical Knowledge (MCBK)
An international community from research and practice which brings together all digital professionals (including librarians) to share good practice. Although based in the USA there is interest in establishing a UK Chapter.
Papers
Considers the skills requirements and educational needs of the workforce and the ethics of applying these technologies.
Paper outlining the basic concepts of data science, the need and framework for sector development.
A review of data science from a library perspective, the role of libraries in the data science movement and application (inc. knowledge management).
Looks at the benefits and risks of AI in healthcare and proposes mitigation measures and policy options.
Example from practice
At Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the JET Library has been working with the Continuous Improvement (CI) Faculty to create a Continuous Improvement Tracker.
Staff members complete a form to log their project, once approved the project is automatically added to a SharePoint repository. The tracker automates the process to keep all the information in one place and supports the notification to various parties at different stages of the process. At the end there is an A3 template to share the output of the project. Once complete and signed off on the tracker, the participants receive a certificate of completion.
A dashboard has been created and the library is working with Informatics (due to licensing restrictions) to support the monitoring and governance of the workstream.
The library supported the translation of the project idea into an information workflow which could be adapted into the system and worked alongside IT to develop and test. Now the system has been launched the library remains responsible for the monitoring and reporting on the tracker to the CI Faculty, the addition of metadata to support the search function, the regular review and tweaking of the system in line with methodology changes. The library will also be supporting the return of an annual quality improvement fayre to share the A3 outputs from the projects across the Trust.
The work has generated interest and a training session has been held with the clinical audit team to replicate and tailor the tracker for their purposes. Lessons learnt from the project are now being applied to Trust guidelines and, in the future, it is planned to link the document to the clinical data as a method of proving the efficacy of the project / uptake of guidelines etc.
Page last reviewed: 12 January 2023