Health Education England (HEE) has awarded £52,000 to the Baker Dearing Education Trust, to support digital health professionals.
The funding will be spent on a project manager to develop resources to be used across the Digital Health Pathway course.
The two-year course for 14-19-year-olds began in October 2021 at 10 University Technical Colleges and aims to deliver hands-on learning for students looking for a career in computing and health sciences. The students can work with local employers to gain experience on real-life problems.
The funding aims to provide enough resources to expand the course to further University Technical Colleges.
Patrick Mitchell, Director of Innovation, Digital and Transformation at Health Education England, said: “The Digital Health Pathways Project has shown to be a fantastic way for young people to gain skills and experience to set them up for a career in digital health.
“We hope that the funding being made available to the Baker Dearing Educational Trust will allow for the resources to be developed so many more young people around the country can have the opportunity to gain digital health skills in this way.”
Simon Connell, Baker Dearing Educational Trust, chief executive said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Health Education England on this new digital health education pathway for 14- to 19-year-olds.
“There is a great need for a pipeline of homegrown talent into our healthcare sector to ensure patients continue to benefit from a world-class health service. In a modern NHS, improving health outcomes and preventing ill health is as dependent on our mastery of data as it is our access to the latest medicines.
“Young people are also keen to pursue careers in this area. Which is why this project will help encourage talented UTC students specialising in digital and health disciplines to consider careers with the NHS.
“An array of employer-led projects, competitions, and expert masterclasses is intended to demonstrate the sheer range of amazing opportunities within the NHS for young people with the right digital skills.
“The fact that ten University Technical Colleges will be leading on this work is especially gratifying as it builds on the work that UTC staff have already committed to developing digital health education pathways.
“We are grateful for Health Education England’s support as we think their input into the NHS, combined with our network of UTCs and ability to develop reliable and useful evidence will mean we can develop a successful digital health education pathway.
“We are looking forward to getting started.”
