Developing business, administration and digital skills

The AI Readiness Assurance Framework and AI Readiness Checklist have been developed to support health and care organisations to assess how prepared they are to adopt and use AI technologies safely, effectively and ethically.

The framework outlines the key principles and considerations organisations should think about when introducing AI, including governance, workforce readiness, data and ethics. Alongside this, the checklist provides a practical self-assessment tool to help organisations evaluate their readiness for specific AI tools and support more informed decision-making.

The documents are currently open for public consultation, with feedback welcomed from across health and care, including digital teams, clinical leaders, governance professionals and policy partners.

The AI Gateway is a new free, interactive platform designed to build confidence in using AI safely and responsibly. The tool aims to close the UK’s “AI confidence gap” and make AI learning accessible to everyone.

Designed for non-financial professionals, this microcredential will help you develop your accounting knowledge to analyse financial statements, measure performance and assess financial health. Focusing on how to interpret financial reports rather than how to construct them, you’ll gain the confidence to understand accounting terminology effectively. By the end, you’ll have the skills to make sense of annually published financial accounting information so you can make well-informed business decisions.

Taking a practical approach that’s grounded in your own experience, this course will introduce you to the essentials of business and management, the context in which businesses and other organisations operate, and its common aims and characteristics.

The Click Start programme consists of 29 short courses designed to build digital and professional skills. Each course is self-paced and takes a maximum of 6–8 hours to complete.

This new, free tool allows you to create tailored, DSPT-compliant policies, starting with Bring Your Own Device. The Data Policy Builder helps you to understand key data protection and cyber security issues and create policies that genuinely reflect your organisation’s systems, processes, and ways of working.

This newsletter focuses on strengthening your approach to information governance. It brings together key resources to help you meet your legal obligations, improve digital resilience, and protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the data you handle every day.

The UK government has launched the Digital Inclusion Action Plan: First Steps, aiming to bridge the digital divide and ensure everyone benefits from technological advancements.

The 4 key areas of focus are:

• Opening up opportunities through skills
• Tackling data and device poverty
• Breaking down barriers to digital services
• Building confidence

This comprehensive approach aims to reduce digital exclusion, enabling more people to benefit from online services and participate fully in the digital economy. The plan prioritises five groups: young people, older adults, individuals with disabilities, those currently unemployed, and low-income households.

The guidance covers best practice around digital record systems, highlighting the efficiency they afford when compared to the paper-based methods they replace.

The Digital Skills Self-Assessment tool has been co-developed with people working across adult social care, and is designed to assess digital knowledge and skills against the seven themes of the Digital Skills Framework for Adult Social Care. 

This course explores a range of digital skills and practices, including digital identity, digital well-being, staying safe and legal, finding and using information and online tools, and dealing with information overload.

Digital and AI technologies

A new online advice service to help the NHS and care system adopt and make use of new digital and AI technologies launched this month.

The AI and Digital Regulations service provides guidance and offers:

• a website providing centralised, curated and up-to-date regulatory content around AI and data-driven technologies
• access to specialist support for developers and adopters of AI and data-driven technologies

The service is a multi-agency collaboration between Care Quality Commission (CQC), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

This page presents seven guiding principles designed to help commissioners and service providers navigate the opportunities and challenges of using AI in social care. It also provides descriptions of each principle’s meaning and practical application.

Throughout November and December, Skiils for Care are shining a spotlight on increasing #DigitalConfidence in adult social care, so that you can make the most of digital technology in your organisation.

We know that digital can sound daunting, but it doesn’t need to be

https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/news-and-events/Spotlight-on/Improving-digital-confidence.aspx?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enews&utm_content=LandingPage&utm_campaign=DigitalConfidence#msdynttrid=AElu_n5UaFDvkLUv3Tb4Om1I0nHqbD6ms3kEwW21eJ8

In 2024, care providers took part in three virtual sessions to explore how AI is being used across the sector. The findings are now available on the Digitising Social Care website and include practical tips and examples of how AI can support both care and admin tasks.

Understanding your role in managing resources is vital to enable to you provide good and outstanding care. 

In this CPD course you’ll learn about the importance of strategic monitoring and control systems and why they are fundamental to effective strategy implementation. There are many different examples of monitoring and control, but in this course we will be discussing them in the context of management.

Newsletter MILE pathway March 2023

By developing digital skills, social care managers can lead the way as we move into a digitally focused future, ensuring everyone can benefit from tech-enabled care.

This practical session focused on building confidence in handling everyday digital challenges within adult social care settings, supporting the safe and effective use of technology in line with DSPT requirements. Rather than requiring technical expertise, the session introduced simple, structured approaches to problem-solving that could be applied in day-to-day practice.

Sussex Digital In Reach Team provides a free platform on which Care Providers across Sussex can access free advice and support on technology, digitalisation and data protection. We are run by the care providers for the care providers.

The What Good Looks Like self-assessment tool has been developed to support adult social care providers with their digital journey. It’s designed to help you reflect on where your organisation is at, spot areas for development, and access practical resources to guide next steps.

It takes around 30 minutes to complete and gives you a tailored report to help shape your digital vision and strategy.