The Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) at Imperial College London will showcase its work in digital health, leadership and policy at Digital Health Rewired 2026. The event brings together digital health leaders, innovators and policymakers from across the UK.
Taking place on 24–25 March at the NEC Birmingham, Rewired will bring together experts from across healthcare, technology and research to explore how digital innovation is transforming health systems. Across the two-day programme, IGHI researchers, educators and partners will take part in keynote conversations and panel discussions exploring how data, artificial intelligence and research-led leadership are shaping the future of healthcare.
Attendees will also be able to connect with the IGHI team during the event and learn more about how the Institute’s research, policy expertise and education programmes are supporting the next generation of digital health leaders.
Data-driven leadership in the NHS
On day two of the conference, IGHI will host the MSc Digital Health Leadership Dissertation Panel, highlighting how research undertaken by NHS professionals through IGHI’s Digital Health Leadership Programme is driving improvements across the health service.
Since the programme launched in 2018, around 160 NHS digital leaders have undertaken research projects addressing complex challenges within their organisations. Many of these studies have strengthened the evidence base for innovation, supported better decision-making and delivered tangible improvements in care.
Kenny Oniti, Senior Teaching Fellow at IGHI and chair of the session, said:
“The Dissertation of Practice projects enable students to tackle real-world challenges, anchoring their learning to organisational priorities and evidence-based practice to create measurable value for the NHS.”
During the session, recent graduates from the MSc in Digital Health Leadership: Vicky Kong, Antonia Brown and Adrian Jonas will share insights from their research, including the challenges they encountered, the lessons they learned and the impact their work is having within the communities they serve.
AI and the future of health innovation
On day one of Rewired, Dr Hutan Ashrafian, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at IGHI, will join Professor Gillian Leng, President of the Royal Society of Medicine, for a keynote conversation examining the transformative role of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
A surgeon, entrepreneur and internationally recognised researcher, Dr Ashrafian is among the world’s most highly cited scientists and has worked at the forefront of translational clinical research, AI trials and health policy.
His recent research on the role AI can play in breast cancer screening has received significant media attention.
In this session, the speakers will explore AI as both a driver and product of health innovation. From real-world advances in mammography and surgical practice to questions of regulation, workforce development and risk, the discussion will examine how AI is reshaping clinical pathways, discovery and decision-making, and what responsible adoption will require at this critical moment for healthcare.
Designing digital care for real people
Also on day two, IGHI will present work from a collaboration with Mental Health Innovations (MHI) examining how digital tools can better support the mental health needs of younger populations.
The session will also introduce a new digital platform designed specifically to support younger users. The work reflects a broader ambition to develop digital health tools that respond to the realities of patients’ lives and experiences.
Speaking ahead of the session, Dr Chris Agape Ajah, Policy Fellow in Digital Health at IGHI, said:
“This session will highlight IGHI’s unique approach to innovation, grounded in insights from people with lived experience and data. This is exemplified through our long-term partnership with MHI and our upcoming report on the mental health needs of children aged 13 and under. I look forward to sharing these insights with delegates and expanding opportunities for collaboration.”
Join us at Rewired
Together, these sessions highlight how research, education and policy expertise can work together to accelerate the digital transformation of healthcare.
If you are attending Digital Health Rewired 2026, come and connect with the IGHI team at stand A45, join the conversations across the programme and discover how research, innovation and digital leadership are shaping the future of healthcare.
In a rapidly evolving landscape, digital leaders in the NHS need the knowledge and practical skills to respond to new threats and opportunities for the healthcare sector, supporting them to lead their organisations with the latest developments in generative AI, Cybersecurity and other pressing issues.
Participants at IBM offices
The Education team at IGHI has developed a new series of highly interactive, seminar-style residential bootcamps to support digital leaders, offering a carefully curated programme of expert panels, Imperial academic keynotes, real-life simulations and practical workshops to enable immediate implementation of their learning into their organisations.
Students working in groups at cybersecurity workshop
On 3 and 4 April, we hosted our first Cybersecurity Bootcamp in partnership with IBM. We had a variety of job roles from across the NHS represented: Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Clinical Information Officers (CCIOs). The aim of the course? To offer an opportunity for digital leaders to practice and learn: ask the right questions, avoid playing catch-up and prepare for the next wave of threats.
The academic lead for the bootcamp was Dr Saira Ghafur, who worked with the education team to bring in experts, design the 2-day agenda and weave together the various sessions, panels and keynotes. Alex Barclay, Head of Education for the Helix Centre, designed and delivered the practical workshops on the second day, allowing participants to get into the weeds and start working on cyber strategies fit to take back into their organisations.
The programme saw the following highlights:
An IBM X-Force Simulation, generously adapted by a team of experts specifically for this NHS audience.
Imperial’s Professor Chris Hankin’s opening keynote, showing us through the lens of his research and recent geopolitical history why healthcare is an attractive target for cyber criminals, how to reduce probability and impact and work on our collective resilience.
A panel of experts: Dr Ayesha Rahim, Phil Huggins and Dr Saif Abed sharing their insights on cyber risks & impact with honesty, real-life impact on staff and patients and great energy.
Digital Health Leadership alumni and technical practitioner Gary McAllister delivered a case study “Insider Perspective on Major Attack”. It was hugely impactful to hear first-hand what actually happens on the ground when your organisation is under attack.
On International Women’s Day, we shine a spotlight on the incredible women at the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) who are shaping the future of healthcare worldwide. From pioneering research to innovative policy work, these leaders are tackling some of the most pressing global health challenges —making a real difference in in the UK and beyond.
Group photo of IGHI staff at the summer social.
In this blog, we celebrate their achievements and highlight how their expertise and dedication continue to inspire change. Read on to learn about some of these fantastic women at the IGHI and discover key examples of their work.
Professor Bryony Dean Franklin – Visiting Professor at IGHI
Professor Franklin is widely recognised as a research leader within patient safety, both nationally and internationally. She has specific expertise in evaluating technologies that aim to reduce medication errors in both primary and secondary care. She led a recent revision of the World Health Organization’s Medication Safety Curriculum Guide and has recently contributed to collaborative research and quality improvement studies in Brazil, India and Finland. As Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal BMJ Quality and Safety she seeks to support and encourage others in publishing high-quality research and opinions that seek to improve patient care the world over.
Jennifer Bennett – Senior Postgraduate Administrator
Jennifer Bennett is a Senior Postgraduate Administrator for the PG Dip and MSc Digital Health Leadership (DHL) Programmes. She is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the programmes, supporting the students from recruitment to award and all the processes in between, working closely with faculty and teaching fellows to make sure the students get the best academic and pastoral support.
Jenny gained a new perspective on the student experience last year when she completed a L3 Team Leader qualification (CMI). She particularly enjoyed learning about leadership and communication models and evaluating how she could apply them to her work. This echoes the workplace assessments which the PG Dip students are doing, applying theory to practice. The PG students on the DHL programmes are all balancing work, study and personal or family commitments and Jenny has even greater empathy for students with looming deadlines! She is pleased to have achieved a Distinction. One of the projects she reflected on was the 2024 refurbishment of the office environment of 1070 at QEQM which has become a more inviting space for collaboration with colleagues.
Recently Jenny has introduced some processes to streamline the administration of benchmarking assessments and bulk uploading feedback to the VLE. She is also looking forward to contributing on further working parties to identify Imperial’s new VLE.
Melanie Leis – Director of Policy and Analysis
Melanie Leis is the Director of Policy and Analysis of the Centre for Health Policy, part of the IGHI. She leads the Centre’s development of analytics tools and policy outputs to support global decision-makers in fields such as patient safety, digital health and mental health.
Melanie leads our partnership with WHO’s Global Patient Safety Collaborative, which provides an opportunity to develop global and country-specific patient safety leadership support and resources. She also leads our collaboration with the charity Mental Health Innovations to deliver policy reports that highlight the key role that digital mental health services play in supporting the UK population. One of the projects she is most proud of is the collaboration with the charity Patient Safety Watch, through which IGHI produces reports on the national and global state of patient safety. The annual launch events of the reports bring together national and global patient safety leaders, including patients. These reports and events ensure that patient safety is at the top of system leaders’ agendas.
Jodie Chan – Public Involvement Officer, Helix Centre
Jodie Chan is a Public Involvement Officer at the IGHI’s Helix Centre, working on projects around safely involving women experiencing homelessness in research, understanding the mental health experiences and support needs of 10- to 13-year-olds, and analysing the impact of long waiting times on patients and the health system.
Jodie works across IGHI to support the meaningful involvement of patients, carers, and public members in research. Within her work, she has a strong focus on deepening and diversifying IGHI’s relationships with its local community and is passionate about supporting community-led research.
She is particularly proud of the relationships she has built with women at the Marylebone Project, a local women’s homelessness service, and of their ongoing work to make research safer and more psychologically informed.
Jessica Shields – Impact Officer, Helix Centre
Jessica Shields is an Impact Officer at the IGHI’s Helix Centre, working across the Centre to keep it running smoothly. Jess works on everything from supporting the scaling up of Helix projects and looking for funding opportunities to communications and coordinating Helix events. Jess also co-chairs the IGHI Wellbeing Working group, heading iniatives to improve workplace wellbeing at IGHI.
Jess is proud to support the Helix team to bring design to healthcare and being involved in the Wellbeing Working Group at IGHI. A particular highlight has been bringing the Helix team together over games and food for the Christmas All-Staff meeting and supporting team members to find funding for projects they’re passionate about.
Dr Jang Ah Kim – Lecturer at the Hamlyn Centre
Dr Jang Ah Kim is a Lecturer at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Department of Mechanical Engineering. She is interested in researching multidisciplinary approaches to understanding and controlling the interactions between materials and their surrounding environments at the micro/nanoscale. By leveraging this knowledge, she aims to develop innovative and highly precise, minimally invasive strategies for biomedical sensing and robotics, addressing challenges unique to these scales.
The mini lab (micro-nano innovation lab) that Dr Kim leads is built on the belief that big breakthroughs start small. The lab focuses on micro and nano-scale engineering, exploring how light and other physical stimuli interact with materials to push the frontiers of biomedical sensing, soft robotics, and healthcare technologies. The name mini lab itself reflects this vision—written in lowercase to symbolise its commitment to micro/nano-scale research and precision-driven, minimally invasive healthcare solutions, where even the smallest changes can lead to transformative impact. Through this work, Dr Kim and her team strive to bridge fundamental science with real-world applications, advancing the next generation of biomedical engineering solutions.
Although newly established in September 2023, the mini lab has already embarked on exciting foundational research in manipulating micro/nanoparticles and bacterial swarms using light, as well as engineering shape-changing microrobots. These efforts aim to lay the groundwork for novel applications in personalised medicine, such as targeted drug delivery, cellular-level surgery, and local immunotherapy. In the long run, these highly targeted and efficient biomedical solutions could also contribute to addressing broader clinical challenges, including optimising therapeutic strategies and reducing unnecessary antibiotic use, ultimately supporting efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance—all of which resonate with IGHI’s vision for advancing global healthcare innovation.
Dr Ana Cruz Ruiz — Project Manager, Hamlyn Centre
Dr Ana Cruz Ruiz is the Project Manager at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, where she coordinates centre-wide projects across various Technology Readiness Levels, ranging from basic research to medtech translation initiatives. In addition to this role, she leads the Hamlyn Centre’s Global Surgery working group, which focuses on how frontier technologies—such as AI, robotics, 3D printing, and the Internet of Things—can enhance surgical care in low- and middle-income countries.
One of her recent achievements includes organising the Global Surgery Forum at the Hamlyn Symposium 2024, where she co-moderated a panel with Dr Kee Park, Director of Policy & Advocacy at Harvard Medical School. The session, titled “Can Technology and Innovation Help Improve Health Equity?”, addressed the challenges faced by low- or middle-income countries in accessing safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care. The panel explored how technology is already helping to address some of these barriers, while also emphasising the need for further collaboration with the engineering community to create scalable solutions.
Ana is passionate about improving health equity in Honduras and in Latin America. Recently, she travelled there to meet with local surgeons, learn about regional needs, and explore ways to collaborate on making surgical care more accessible. She also contributes as a member of the Advisory Council for Honduras’ 2026 National Human Development Report, organised by the United Nations Development Programme.
Georgia Butterworth – Senior Strategy Advisor to Lord Darzi
Georgia Butterworth is a Senior Strategy Advisor to Lord Darzi, supporting the delivery of his wide-ranging portfolio across academic, policy and parliamentary priorities. In this role, she provides strategic advice and coordination across a diverse range of projects, from the Fleming Initiative to the NHS Independent Investigation. Her work is dynamic and varied, often requiring close collaboration with colleagues across the IGHI to ensure alignment across its centres.
One of the best things about my role is seeing the great achievements of the different centres in the IGHI and thinking about how we bring it all together for greatest impact. I find it really exciting to contribute to shaping the future of health and care through the IGHI, and inspiring to work alongside many exceptional women in this field.
Jessica Newberry Le Vay – Climate Change and Health Policy Fellow
Jessica Newberry Le Vayis a Climate Change and Health Policy Fellow in the Climate Cares Centre, working on the interconnections between climate change and mental health. Jess recently worked on the Connecting Climate Minds Global Research and Action Agenda, bringing together the perspectives of 960 experts across 100 countries to set out global priorities for climate change and mental health research and a vision for implementing and translating that research to action. Jess was also recently part of developing the People’s Petition, a global collective climate justice call submitted to the International Court of Justice in December 2024 that amplifies the testimonies of 18 witnesses from communities experiencing and responding to the worst impacts of the climate crisis, including impacts to physical and mental health.
Jess currently leads The Compass Project: Guiding minds and inspiring action through climate change education, working with young people and educators in schools and universities to ensure climate change education can equip and support young people with the resilience, knowledge, skills and agency to take climate action and live in an uncertain future.
Dr Emma Lawrance – Climate Cares Centre Lead
Dr Emma Lawrance is the Climate Cares Centre Lead and Mental Health Lead at the IGHI. Emma also leads the Wellcome-funded global initiative Connecting Climate Minds, which has involved over 1000 people across 100 countries to date. She holds an AXA Climate and Health Fellowship to more deeply understand the experiences of young people in the climate crisis in different cultures, what this means for their mental health and wellbeing, and to co-design and evaluate support that can build agency and resilience.
Emma is a recognised global leader in the emerging climate and mental health field, building awareness and capacity across sectors and countries to acknowledge and act for a climate of health and wellbeing. She is an author of key research and policy papers on the topic, including: the first global policy brief; leading reviews of the field as a whole, relevant interventions, and temperature and mental health; studies with young people in the UK, Caribbean and the US (under review), and the Global Research and Action Agenda for climate change and mental health. She has presented globally, for instance at the World Economic Forum, four UNFCCC COP conferences, the World Congress of Psychiatry, OECD and the European Commission and been featured in international media, including Die Zeit, Guardian, Al Jazeera, Sky News, BBC, Forbes, Reuters and others.
She believes in the power of community, and in connecting people and ideas to foster resilience to thrive in a changing world and to create a safer climate for our mental health.
Dr Laura-Maria Horga – Communications and Events Officer
Dr Laura-Maria Horga is a Health Communications and Events Officer at IGHI. She delivers communications and engagement projects across IGHI’s seven research centres of excellence, supporting the Institute’s mission to tackle global health challenges.
She is currently leading the organisation of IGHI’s annual in-person event, Demo Day, which helps staff learn more about the different workstreams at IGHI, connect with colleagues, foster collaborations, and celebrate the Institute’s achievements.
Dr Ivet Angelova has recently joined the MedTechOne programme at Imperial College London as a MedTech Specialist. Her journey into healthtech began with a PhD in Chemical Engineering, where she focused on developing genetically encoded biosensors for monitoring Botulinum Neurotoxins—a project that deepened her passion for turning scientific discovery into practical healthcare solutions.
Shaping the future of healthcare means not only driving research and innovation but also ensuring it reaches those who need it most. As part of MedTechOne, Ivet is currently working towards building a knowledge base that equips early career researchers (ECRs) with the tools to translate medtech discoveries into real-world impact. This resource is shaped by the needs and feedback of researchers across IGHI, the Hamlyn Centre and the wider Imperial community. Covering everything from regulations and quality standards to commercialisation and team building, this resource is designed to help bridge the gap between research and commercialisation. Additionally, she is co-leading the launch of the MedTech ECR Network at Imperial, creating a space for emerging medtech leaders to connect, collaborate, and thrive.
Ivet said “This International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate the women driving healthcare forward, breaking barriers, and shaping a future where innovation is inclusive, impactful, and accessible to all. I am grateful to be part of a community filled with inspiring women whose work and determination continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in medtech and beyond.”
Cohort 7 Trainees – Julia Anderson (JA) Training Programme
Caitlin Murphy is as a JA Behavioural Science Trainee in the Fleming Initiative team. She is working in a patient / public facing project focusing on the use of antibiotics and encouraging individuals to finish a course of antibiotics if prescribed.
Arlette Albert is another JA Behavioural Science Trainee in the Fleming Initiative team. She is working part-time alongside Caitlin to develop her skills in qualitative research, behavioural science, patient engagement, and co-designing interventions.
Miranda Watson joined as the JA Trainee in Digital Health. She is working in the Patient Safety team to develop her skills in translating evidence into measurable interventions to improve patient safety in virtual care. She is involved in reviewing the literature, extracting data, and critically appraising available literature to identify safety indicators relevant to virtual consultations.
Jazz Walker, a Year 2 Health Policy Master’s student and Biological Capabilities Policy Advisor at the UK Health Security Agency, attended our recent in-person student workshop and shares her experience of the MSc programme.
Why did you apply for the Health Policy MSc programme?
Jazz: I applied for the programme mostly for career progression reasons. I’d gone through education—originally, I did an English degree—and then I got into health policy.
One aspect that drew me to it is that, particularly in the policy world, you don’t often gain experience outside of your job’s specific focus. It’s really difficult, especially in busy areas, to get opportunities to branch into other fields.
Personally, I found the finance and economics section quite interesting. Due to the way my career has progressed, I’ve always kind of avoided working on those areas. But this programme provided a nice, non-pressured way to learn about those elements of the job without needing to seek permissions for work shadowing. My organisation is keen to promote learning and development, but I personally haven’t found their traditional pathways very effective for learning this type of information.
I found the Health Policy MSc programme more helpful because it requires you to work on a problem statement, rather than just absorbing theory that’s delivered to you, with no practical application. It provides a way to demonstrate how you’d approach and apply these examples in real situations. Those are the key things I value: gaining skill sets I can’t acquire in my job. It’s been very interesting, and I’m pleased to be able to work with people from diverse backgrounds on the course.
How is the programme going so far? What did you enjoy the most or found most impactful?
Jazz: I think it’s going really well so far. I particularly enjoyed last year’s module on Health and Society, as it connected to my work at the time, which was related to threat relevance. Having an entire module focused on various threats helped me better understand the organisation I was working in. This was especially useful because my employer is funding my studies to help me bring broader awareness to other areas I might work in.
Gaining these learnings and insights pushed me to apply more of them in my work. This has enabled me to present stronger ideas by incorporating those considerations and working through them, and has strengthened my relationships with analysts in that area. I can now demonstrate that I’m using the same assessment criteria they would use, saying things like, ‘I evaluated this’ or ‘I’d recommend approaching it this way’ or ‘This is how I’d like to see the results—does that align with the right approach?’ Having their agreement has further helped build these connections.
How do you think this programme will further help you in building your career?
Jazz: I think simply being recognised for doing the Master’s has already been really helpful for my work. It’s helped me connect with industry and academia, showing them that there’s genuine dedication behind what I’m doing. In an environment where people often jump between fields, having a solid foundation in the subject area is really valuable.
Pushing myself to think critically and write papers in a more traditional, academic style has also been useful. I had definitely fallen out of practice with writing academic papers, so it’s been great to get back into that process and focus on building a stronger evidence base. Rather than just relying on the specialised technicians in my organisation, I’m doing self-directed research again. This has been particularly helpful in areas I’m working on, as it’s taught me how to evaluate sources more critically. It’s not just about thinking, ‘Well, it’s in an academic journal, so it must be true,’ but about noticing potential biases that might affect credibility.
I think this stronger evidence base, along with the ability to perform desk research and self-reflection, will be incredibly useful for my future career.
Have you experienced any challenges so far? And if so, how has the academic team supported you?
Jazz: The academic team has been very helpful throughout the course. Particularly at the start, when I was working on two tasks simultaneously in my job, being able to reach out and express that things were challenging gave me the reassurance I needed to manage things through. They explained the possibility of getting a short extension, or if I needed a longer one, they could guide on providing evidence of what I was working on. Their support has been invaluable!
I found the drop-in sessions especially useful, knowing I could jump in and ask, ‘I have one question; my mind can’t quite get where I’m going with it. Am I thinking about it right?’ Getting confirmation and advice on where I might need to push further or focus more on that track was really helpful.
The way the lessons are structured is also refreshing compared to other universities I’ve attended. They truly listen, and you can see that reflected in how the course has evolved.
For example, I appreciated having the opportunity to reflect through the course’s reflective learning journals in my first year; however, I found it challenging to keep up with them due to time constraints. What’s great is that the academic team listened to our feedback, acknowledging the timing pressures, and made adjustments accordingly in our second year. Unlike other academic settings where you’re simply told to ‘just do it,’ it’s nice to be in a place where they listen and adapt the course as it progresses.
What advice would you give to new applicants?
Jazz: I think it’s important to consider your timings. Planning ahead on how you’ll approach each part of the course can make the assessments less challenging. If you tackle the work gradually, following along with the unit organically, it will make a difference. Personally, thinking about how I’ll apply what I’m learning to the assessments has been beneficial.
Also, remember to take time for yourself. It’s important to keep up with your reading, but too much pressure can be overwhelming. The required and optional readings are already outlined for you, so focus on those, and spend extra time on topics that interest you or could enhance your essays.
Last week, over 100 students from the most recent Cohort of the Digital Health Leadership Programme (DHLP)came togetherfor the first time to kick off their learning journey.
Digital Health Leadership Programme Cohort 7 in York
The two-day Forum in York gave students the opportunity to learn about expectations for the year, meet the academic team, and network with peers. Day 1 included talks and interactive sessions on individual strengths, while Day 2 focused on the collective, with participants engaging with their peer support groups.
Commissioned by the NHS Digital Academy at NHS England, the DHLP empowers health and care leaders to drive digital transformation in the NHS. The programme is delivered by a partnership of Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, HDR UK and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The programme is targeted at individuals who are working in a role where they are required to drive and implement practical digital transformational change within their organisation or system.
Now in the seventh year of delivering the programme, we are pleased to be onboarding a diverse cohort of digital leaders and aspiring ones across the health and care spectrum. This includes an equal split between clinical and non-clinical digital roles, with good representation across midwifery, nursing, pharmacy, AHPs and other medical professions.
In this blog post, Cohort 7 students shared their motivations for applying for this programme and what they think the impact will be, as well as their impressions about the event.
Enhance digital skills and become better leaders
Enohi Odogu – Intelligence Partner
‘’I joined this programme to expand my knowledge in the digital health field, grow my network, and learn something new that I can apply in my organisation and the wider community. I aim to transfer that knowledge to my colleagues, or at least have them feel my impact in some way.
‘’As part of this event, we’re learning new things about ourselves—as managers, as leaders—and discovering what we need to do to become better people.’’
Jeffrey Loren Zurbano – Digital Clinical Nurse
‘’I have the opportunity to be a great contributor in my team, so I need to upskill myself, my leadership skills, especially around digital landscape.
‘’These two days have been really empowering. Meeting my peers and the teaching fellows ignited my passion to be a great leader and bring about changes in the digital landscape and the NHS. I’m very happy to have each of my peers in the different groups. we have many different opinions, which I appreciate, as I enjoy being challenged with my ideas.’’
Alice Butler – Lead Digital Midwife (continuing student)
‘’I completed the Postgraduate (PG) Certificate in Digital Maternity Leaders previously and now progressed to the PG Diploma. I was seeking further training and community for clinicians who found themselves in similar roles to mine, to support my work and gain more knowledge.
‘’My original training was as a midwife, not in digital health, so I found myself in this niche of healthcare that I really enjoy and want to learn more about to see what the impact is.’’
Jo Williams – Diagnostic Workforce Lead
‘’I can absolutely see how the data and systems we use within the workforce haven’t caught up with the rest of the digital world. So, I’m hoping to gain from this course not only opportunities to enhance my leadership skills and support my career development, but also to advance the workforce systems and help our diagnostics staff become more digitally enabled and ready for the future.
‘’Since I had to defer for a year, I was very impressed by how supportive the team was when I wanted to start again this year. The Forum today has been outstanding, and I am thrilled to be here!’’
Translate learning into tangible outcomes in my workplace
Dr Myra Malik – Anaesthetist and DCIO
‘’I’ve taken on some more senior leadership roles in digital, and I felt I needed to gain more expertise to perform better in those roles. I decided to come to Imperial to do that, and to translate that learning into tangible outcomes and see effective change happen in the organisation I work for.
‘’It’s been great meeting others in the cohort and the new peer support group I’ll have this year. I’m sure there will be some ups and downs that we’ll need to support each other through.
‘’My favourite session was the strengths assessment. It emphasised the importance of viewing yourself not through a deficit lens, but rather through a positive perspective on what can be improved. Using your natural talents and strengths can help in areas of your life where you don’t feel as strong, which I find quite pivotal.’’
Prabha Vijayakumar – National Chief AHP Information Officer
‘’I would like to gain an academic understanding of the programme and how we apply clinical informatics in the broader AHP-related field. Being appointed as the first Chief AHP Information Officer has provided me with the platform to raise the profile of AHPs within the digital agenda across the NHS, so I am motivated by this.
‘’It’s fantastic to meet all the colleagues who have joined the program, as well as the academic staff. I am impressed with the facilities here and how organised and supportive the team is!’’
‘’I’ve been involved in many digital health projects in my Trust, and I’m eager to improve stakeholder engagement and collaboration among executive teams, clinical teams, and IT to effectively deploy digital health systems.
‘’Networking with like-minded people in different roles has been the best part for me. I believe this can drive change and facilitate knowledge sharing across the NHS, helping us work collaboratively instead of in silos. That’s how we can learn from each other and accelerate progress in digital health for the UK and NHS. The insights on leadership styles, CliftonStrengths, and the reflective learning session were particularly valuable to me.’’
‘This programme is pushing me out of my comfort zone’
Holly Paris – Associate Clinical Director
‘’I work in primary care in an area of high social deprivation in the UK. When you work in a place with such deep need, digital change is one of the obvious equalizers. But how do you make that happen? I’m here to understand what we need to do better to implement change at the ground level.
‘’What I saw happening today was many people making an effort to go beyond speaking with those they already knew or had sat next to. This created a really convivial vibe, which was great for setting up peer groups. That’s one of the most inspiring things I’ve noticed—how the learning over the last six cohorts has allowed this to happen fairly organically.’’
Ahmed ElSayed – Clinical Systems Change Lead
‘’My first motivation is engaging with more people from different backgrounds, from clinical to project management. My second motivation is gaining hands-on experience rather than just theory. Third, I am interested in learning and stepping out of my comfort zone.
‘’I want to get the most out of this course and apply the principles I learn here both in my personal life and within my team. I believe that if I don’t change, nothing will change.
Ben Jeeves – Associate Chief Clinical Information Officer
‘’I was looking for something that would impact my work and challenge me on different levels. After the last two days, I am certain that’s exactly what I will get. The past two days have been intense, giving me lots of stimuli and challenges—all the things I was hoping for. I hope this will continue for the next 12 months.
‘’The insights from the strengths assessment have definitely been a key highlight for me. I believe that’s a ‘gift’ that will continue to provide value, a resource to go back to and learn from, offering ongoing reflections.‘’
Since 2021, the world has faced a cost-of-living crisis that has adversely affected population health. With rising living costs, many people have been forced to make significant cuts in their daily expenses and adjust their lifestyles accordingly. But has this crisis influenced how people prefer to access health services? In this blog, we share the results of our international cross-sectional study involving 6,391 participants from the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Italy.
The COVID-19 pandemic, followed by military destabilisation in Europe, has contributed to a major cost-of-living crisis characterised by significant price and tax rises, drastic cuts to social security, as well as rises in rent and energy bills. Many people are opting for less expensive supermarkets, reducing recreational overseas travel, and cutting back on spending for clothes and leisure activities.
“More people started using public transport instead of driving a car and eliminated non-essential journeys due to substantial increases in fuel prices. We believe that, in light of these forced adjustments, people’s decisions regarding healthcare might have also changed”.
Dr Tetiana Lunova, Research Associate
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual consultations have become widely used and remain popular even after the pandemic. Virtual consultations have proven to be a convenient alternative for many service users as they allow people to avoid travel and parking expenses, taking time off work, or securing childcare.
We hypothesise that this could have influenced patients’ decisions when choosing the modality of consultation in the cost-of-living crisis times. However, no actual research has been done in this matter so far.
Virtual consultations are getting popular but not among all population groups
We conducted a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire survey of 6,391 participants from the UK, 1459 (23.0%), Germany, 1597 (25.0%), Italy, 1723 (27.0%) and Sweden, 1612 (25.0%). In this survey, we asked people about their preferences for the modality of care (face-to-face or virtual) before and after the onset of the cost-of-living crisis.
Overall, there has been a tangible increase in public preference for virtual care compared to pre-crisis times in all four included countries. At the same time, face-to-face appointments remain the most preferred mode of healthcare delivery.
Before the onset of the crisis, those who preferred virtual care were mainly younger and from urban backgrounds. Approximately 17% of study participants changed their preference for the modality of care after the onset of the cost-of-living crisis. Among them, younger people were more likely to switch to virtual care, while change to face-to-face was associated with younger age and lower income. Older adults were less likely to change their preference for either of the modalities.
Policy implications and lessons for future
Our findings show a growing demand for virtual consultations, particularly among younger people. However, this trend is not reflected among those who consume the most healthcare resources (i.e. older people and those from lower-income groups).
“Scaling up digital healthcare will, therefore, prove a challenging equilibrium to strike to ensure that the wants and needs of the younger population are met while not alienating the older population and those more deprived of their healthcare providers.”
Dr Ana Luisa Neves, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Digital Health
Policymakers should consider strategies to ensure equitable access to virtual care at all stages of its conception and implementation. Such strategies could include digital health literacy training, creating comprehensible guidance materials, and community support initiatives. Our results also indicate that participants from rural communities preferred face-to-face appointments rather than virtual consultations.
While our study did not explore the rationale for this, future work may have implications for the industry to ensure equitable coverage of internet networks and digital health hubs to improve access to virtual services for rural communities. But, most importantly, the rationale behind patients’ preferences should be investigated to ensure all patients can access care in their preferred modality.
Two years on from the invasion of Ukraine, we share a series of blog posts highlighting insights from our Ukraine Health Summit last year, hosted in partnership with the British Red Cross to reflect on and support the delivery and restoration of health services in Ukraine.
The second blog post focuses on the prioritisation of health care reform across the Ukraine health system for recovery and stable peace, and is written by Niki O’Brien, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, with colleagues.
[Ukrainian flag colours. Credits: Tina Hartung/Unsplash]
The war in Ukraine has caused substantial disruption to a health system that was already having to manage complex transitions.1
In 2014 the Ministry of Health of Ukraine initiated a national strategy to improve quality and access to care and sought to address longstanding challenges in strengthening primary health care (PHC), among other reforms.2 Since then, a guaranteed benefit package to reduce out-of-pocket payments was set up and enrolment with contracted PHC providers expanded to cover over 70% of the population as of 2020.
Since 2014, initial armed conflicts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have had implications on regional health services. However, the ongoing Russian invasion in 2022 has led to widespread disruption and destruction of infrastructure and resources across the country. Nationwide attacks on civilian infrastructure also target healthcare facilities, with over 1,500 damaged or destroyed as of 15 June 2023.3 The occupied territories have been hit particularly hard and face a severe shortage of health care workers (HCWs), medications, and supplies. For example, in the municipality of Melitopol, half of the doctors were forced to leave in the first months of the war.4 National and regional progress towards health policy ambitions has been drastically curtailed as resources have been reallocated to the immediate needs of the emergency response including frontline medical care.
Armed conflicts cause both direct and indirect morbidity and mortality with the latter occurring from both communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). As expected, a rapid increase in infections has been reported, and the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam may further affect many thousands of local inhabitants while increasing the risk of the waterborne diseases.5 Moreover, cancers, oncology, and stroke in particularly can occur as a result of or be exacerbated by stress-mediated pathways.6 In Ukraine, cancer mortality was already high, however, recent research suggests that war-related delay in care of four months for five of the most prevalent cancers could lead to an excess of over 3,600 cancer deaths in the coming years.4
The war has also interrupted reform at the patient, health delivery and policy levels which had been initiated through disease-specific lenses in secondary and tertiary care pre-2022. For example, a significant proportion of Ukraine’s radiotherapy is based on Cobalt-60, rather than modern linear accelerators (LINACs) reflecting a wider need not just to increase basic modern technologies (CT, MR scanners etc) but also to upgrade existing hospital infrastructure.7 Volunteer and humanitarian help are essential but currently fulfil only some of the gaps, challenged further by lack of a nationwide coordination to address the needs of healthcare institutions.
[Ukraine Health Summit: woman in the audience speaking]
Measures to support Ukraine’s health system both now and in the early recovery period will need to focus on investment in HCWs and working with patient groups. For HCWs, examining and addressing the various push-pull factors, at a policy and systems level are required to support return. Pull factors for return include security and the potential to resume professional advancement and renumeration by re-establishing links between health service delivery and continuing education. Subject to budgetary constraints, the Ministry of Health could consider capitation-based payments and non-financial benefits to encourage relocation to resource-limited geographic areas or specialties.
Research in post-conflict settings highlights the value of indirect financial incentives (e.g., subsidised meals, childcare facilities, support for continuing education) and non-financial incentives (e.g., career development, improved healthcare facility resources and infrastructure).8 Digital learning platforms can further offer HCWs the opportunity to develop their knowledge by undertaking education and training remotely. There is also a need to invest in the PHC workforce (both physician and non-physician) together with substantial investment support and treat patients in the post-war period.
Ukraine is fortunate to have strong physician and patient organizations who can advocate for the needs of patients and communities. Advocating across disease areas and advising on where treatment can be sought, these organizations connect to patients and communities through social media while also working with high-level policymakers to drive change. When ProZorro, an electronic procurement system was launched in 2020 as part of reforms, 100% Life, one of the largest patient organizations in Ukraine used data from the system to fight corruption, with tangible benefits for the Ukrainian health system.9
After one year of war, in 2023 the organisation had collected $968,000 USD for humanitarian aid and provided 4,773,296 packages of medical goods.10 In 2024, the organisation and its partners has continued to support health service delivery by facilitating training and purchasing medical equipment.11 12Importantly, all individuals, organizations, and groups involved in delivering and receiving health care in Ukraine must come together to through a ground-up, community-led approach to realise a people-centred health system and drive people-centred reforms.
To be successful, efforts must be driven by patient, community, and population needs, led by government, and supported by providers and other stakeholders across the public and private sectors. As further atrocities are reported daily as the war in Ukraine rages on, there may be a reluctance to prioritise the planning of future health services. However, health, and therefore health care, is a prerequisite for recovery and stable peace.
References
1. Roborgh S, Coutts AP, Chellew P, Novykov V, Sullivan R. Conflict in Ukraine undermines an already challenged health system. Lancet. 2022 Apr 9;399(10333):1365-1367. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00485-8/
2. WHO. Health financing reform in Ukraine: progress and future directions. World Health
Organization, 2022. Geneva, Switzerland. Available at: https://www.who.int/ukraine/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2022-5639-45404-64974
3. Міністерство охорони здоров’я України. За понад 15 місяців повномасштабної війни росія пошкодила або зруйнувала 1 554 об’єкти медзакладів. Міністерство охорони здоров’я України, 2023. Kyiv, Ukraine. Available at: https://moz.gov.ua/article/news/za-ponad-15-misjaciv-povnomasshtabnoi-vijni-rosija-poshkodila-abo-zrujnuvala-1-554-ob’ekti-medzakladiv-
4. Khanyk N, Hromovyk B, Levytska O, Agh T, Wettermark B, Kardas P. The impact of the
war on maintenance of long-term therapies in Ukraine. Front Pharmacol. 2022;13:1024046. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9731218/
5. Pavlenko D, Pavlenko M, Pavlenko R. Advantages and limitations of teleophthalmology during the war in Ukraine. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2023 Jun;261(6):1761-1763. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00417-022-05967-1
6. Jawad M, Hone T, Vamos EP, et al. Estimating indirect mortality impacts of armed conflict in civilian populations: panel regression analyses of 193 countries, 1990–2017. BMC Med, 2020; 18, 266. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7487992/
7. Price P, Sullivan R, Zubarev M, Zelinskyi R. Radiotherapy in conflict: lessons from Ukraine. Lancet Oncol. 2022 Jul;23(7):845-847. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470204522002984?via%3Dihub
8. Witter S, Tulloch O, Martineau T. Health workers’ incentives in post-conflict settings – a review of the literature and framework for research. ReBUILD RPC, 2012. London, United Kingdom. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08a7be5274a31e0000614/rebuild_hwi_lit_review.pdf
9. Hrytsenko, Y. Fight for life: how Ukraine is fixing medical procurement and serving patients better. Open Contracting Partnership, 2021. Available at: https://www.open-contracting.org/2021/02/22/fight-for-life-how-ukraine-is-fixing-medical-procurement-and-serving-patients-better/
10. 100% Life. 100% LIFE, A Year Of Courage. 100% Life, 2023. Available at: https://network.org.ua/en/100-life-a-year-of-courage/
11. 100% Life. With the USAID support, 100% Life covered all primary care physicians in Lviv the training. Available at: https://network.org.ua/en/with-the-usaid-support-100-life-covered-all-primary-care-physicians-in-lviv-the-training/
12. 100% Life. Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs funds purchase of equipment for Ukrainian hospitals. Available at: https://network.org.ua/en/japanese-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-funds-purchase-of-equipment-for-ukrainian-hospitals/
Improving the quality of healthcare delivery is a major priority around the world. However, the barriers to improving healthcare quality can vary significantly by context, environment, and population. In settings such as conflict-affected areas or areas of sustained humanitarian crisis, challenges to improving healthcare quality can be extremely complex. In this blog, the term settings of extreme adversity is used to describe these areas, but other terms such as fragile and conflict-affected and vulnerable states, have also been used in research. This blog is written by Olivia Lounsbury, Quality and Safety Programme Co-ordinator, John Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Last summer, the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College Health Partners and Imperial College London were successful in being named as one of the five Network Data Labs (NDL) across the UK, funded by the Health Foundation.
This is an extremely exciting opportunity for our partnership. We have the opportunity to work with our local community in North West London to identify research priorities for health and care since COVID-19, and translate those findings into practice – helping to reduce inequalities.
In North West London we are also very fortunate to have access to a linked data set, known as Discover. This provides information from primary care, acute, mental health, community and social care. It gives us the unique opportunity to delve deeper into health inequalities, and use data to try and discover how communities have been affected by the pandemic.
Our first research project has been an analysis of people recommended to shield by the government, and how COVID-19 has affected them. North West London has a very diverse population in terms of income and ethnicity. We therefore wanted to be sure we were working with a range of patients and the public to help inform our research priorities. Two groups we worked closely with are the Imperial Research Partners group, a diverse group of 11 patients and carers, and also Community Voices, a group of community leaders linked to groups representing people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, those who don’t have English as a first language and a range of other seldom heard communities.
Identifying priorities and concerns
Back in November around 50 people from Community Voices, 40% of whom were from a minority ethnic background and 40% who identified as having a disability, attended a design workshop to help consider two questions. 1) What changes have you noticed in the way that health and care are supported and delivered in North West London since COVID-19? And 2) In terms of the impact COVID-19 has on health and care in the UK, what are our local North West London community priorities for health and care? What are people most worried about and why?
There were two key elements that helped to ensure the workshop could be as productive as possible:
Ensuring we had plenty of time to explain the Discover data in plain English, and to allow questions around data security.
Having an analyst involved with each breakout session to help ensure emerging themes were issues we could analyse within our data.
The impact of COVID-19 on mental health
After the workshop, we collated all of the themes that were raised and the analysts checked whether these themes could be answered using the Discover data set. Seven themes were put into a prioritisation survey. To reach as many North West Londoners as possible, we sent the survey to all the Community Voices network, the workshop attendees and other local community groups, via Twitter, Instagram, the Nextdoor App and Facebook groups for local COVID-19 Mutual Aid Groups. 112 community members completed the survey and the seven themes ranked in this order of importance:
Diagnosis of other conditions
Underserved communities (e.g. people on low incomes)
Mental health
Local availability of services
Access to video consultations
Social and community care
Worse COVID-19 outcomes for minority ethnic groups.
We submitted these findings to the Health Foundation, along with the other NDL members. The next overarching topic we will be working on is the impact of COVID-19 on mental health – one of the top three priorities selected locally. Working with local clinicians and drawing on evidence from recent research and engagement with people with lived experience of mental health, including those from under-represented groups, the Health Foundation have decided our next focus will be on inequalities in children and young people’s access to mental healthcare.
Using data to drive real change
We know the pandemic has particularly impacted children and young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly in terms of mental health service provision. So we will use Discover and other data sets to delve deeper into why access to services is so fragmented at the moment. We will also work with young people from North West London with lived experience of mental health conditions. We will discuss what is important to them in health and social care since COVID-19, as well as carers, families and teachers.
Building on learnings from IGHI’s co-produced CCopeY study, which has looked at the impact of lockdown on young people’s mental health, we’ll be making these sessions as interactive and as accessible as possible. Our intention is to use our findings – from both our engagement and our data analysis – to help effect real change locally in North West London. We’re so excited to start this work. And we’re looking forward to sharing our learnings as we progress through the journey.
For more information, or to get involved, please do contact me at a.lawrence-jones@imperial.ac.uk
By Anna Lawrence-Jones, PPIE lead for the Network Data Lab and IGHI
Jennifer Bennett is a Senior Postgraduate Administrator for the 
Jodie Chan is a Public Involvement Officer at the IGHI’s 
Jessica Shields is an Impact Officer at the IGHI’s 
Georgia
Caitlin Murphy is as a 
‘’I joined this programme to expand my knowledge in the digital health field, grow my network, and learn something new that I can apply in my organisation and the wider community. I aim to transfer that knowledge to my colleagues, or at least have them feel my impact in some way.
‘’I have the opportunity to be a great contributor in my team, so I need to upskill myself, my leadership skills, especially around digital landscape.
‘’I can absolutely see how the data and systems we use within the workforce haven’t caught up with the rest of the digital world. So, I’m hoping to gain from this course not only opportunities to enhance my leadership skills and support my career development, but also to advance the workforce systems and help our diagnostics 
‘’I’ve taken on some more senior leadership roles in digital, and I felt I needed to gain more expertise to perform better in those roles. I decided to come to Imperial to do that, and to 
‘’I would like to gain an academic understanding of the programme and how we apply clinical informatics in the broader AHP-related field. Being appointed as the first Chief AHP Information Officer has provided me with the platform to 
‘’I’ve been involved in many digital health projects in my Trust, and I’m eager to improve stakeholder engagement and collaboration among executive teams, clinical teams, and IT to effectively deploy digital health systems.
‘’I work in primary care in an area of high social deprivation in the UK. When you work in a place with such deep need, digital change is one of the obvious equalizers. But how do you make that happen? I’m here to understand what we need to do better to implement change at the ground level. 
‘’My first motivation is engaging with more people from different backgrounds, from clinical to project management. My second motivation is gaining hands-on experience rather than just theory. Third, I am interested in learning and stepping out of my comfort zone. 
‘’I was looking for something that would impact my work and challenge me on different levels. After the last two days, I am certain that’s exactly what I will get. The past two days have been intense, giving me lots of 
