01.08.2023
The Importance of Digital Literacy
Introduction
The terms ‘IT literacy’ and ‘digital literacy’ are often used interchangeably. However, understanding the distinction between the two is crucial to ensuring a successful EPR programme. This article will discuss the differences and importance of both IT literacy and digital literacy in the context of EPR implementations.
Basic IT Literacy
IT literacy generally refers to the basic skills required to use a computer and other related technology. This includes understanding how to operate a computer, use software like word processors or spreadsheets, navigate the internet, send emails, and protect yourself from basic cybersecurity threats. These skills are the foundation on which more advanced technical skills are built.
In the context of an EPR system, IT literacy means users can navigate the interface, enter and retrieve data, understand error messages, and have a basic understanding of system security.
Digital Literacy
On the other hand, digital literacy goes a step further. It encompasses not only the practical skills to use technology but also involves understanding how to use this technology effectively and responsibly to gather, evaluate, create, and communicate information.
For NHS staff using an EPR system, digital literacy means they can use the system to improve patient care. This could include using EPR data to make informed decisions, understanding the ethical implications of data sharing and privacy, effectively communicating information using digital tools, and staying updated with EPR system updates and changes.
Why Digital Literacy Matters in NHS EPR Programmes
While IT literacy is undeniably essential, it’s digital literacy that can truly unlock the potential of EPR systems.
- Enhanced Patient Care: Digital literacy enables healthcare professionals to use EPR systems to their full potential, leading to more efficient service delivery and improved patient care.
- Data Protection and Ethics: With the significant amount of sensitive data handled in EPR systems, a strong understanding of digital ethics and data protection is essential.
- Effective Communication and Collaboration: Digital literacy fosters more effective communication and collaboration between teams, enabling them to use digital tools to analyse and share information, discuss patient care, and coordinate efforts.
Conclusion
While basic IT literacy lays the groundwork for using technology, digital literacy is what truly empowers NHS staff to leverage EPR systems for improved patient care. As we move forward with digital transformation within the NHS, we must not only provide training on how to use new systems but also focus on developing a digitally literate workforce, ready to navigate and optimise these powerful tools.
Latest insights
Fail Fast, Serve Better: Why the Public Sector Needs a Hackathon Mindset
The electricity in the room was palpable. You could feel that surge of anticipation and excitement — the moment when your brain starts racing at 100 miles an hour and the ideas begin to spill out. We were only ten minutes into our first ever Keystream Hackathon, and already the ideas were coming so fast…
Who Owns the Roof Over Our Heads? And why it matters
Generation Alpha – the iPad-native, AI-normal, children of Millennials who think global videos, climate chat, and hand sanitiser are just… life. They’re also the least likely generation to ever own their own home. As it stands many Millennial parents will not get to see their children own their own home. That matters. As property ownership…
Pulling the Cord on Tech’s Culture of Silence
In aviation, every crash leads to an investigation. In tech, most failures disappear into silence. Why? After attending several events recently, one theme stood out: transparency, or the lack of it. Having supported digital and transformation leaders for over a decade, I’m struck by how often the same issues resurface. Lessons aren’t learned, and problems…
Tuition Fees, Talent, and Quality: The Real Challenge for UK Universities
The government’s recent announcement allowing universities in England to raise tuition fees in line with inflation has made headlines across the sector. While this move may provide welcome financial relief, the bigger challenge for universities isn’t tuition – it’s people. Universities simply cannot meet quality standards without the right teams in place. IT, digital, and…
Beyond the Tools – Making Digital Transformation Work for the NHS
I’ve seen the NHS’s digital transformation from all angles….as a patient, working on the frontline and in the programme room. I’ve felt the frustration of handwritten notes, siloed systems, and digital tools that promised productivity but rarely delivered. But I’ve also seen the difference when technology truly works, when it empowers rather than overwhelms, when it simplifies rather than complicates, and when it supports…
The Traitors Within: Tackling Hidden Inefficiencies in NHS Waiting List Management
As The Traitors returns to our screens tonight (highly recommend if you haven’t seen it), it’s a good reminder that not every challenge is visible at first glance – especially in healthcare. Just like in the show, NHS teams are working together towards a shared goal, but sometimes unseen forces quietly work against progress. In…
From Perfectly Choreographed Groceries to Well-Orchestrated Public Services: What We Learned from a Leading UK Supermarket
As part of our work exploring how operational design principles translate across sectors, we recently visited one of the UK’s leading supermarket micro-fulfilment centres (MFC). We were curious to see how one of the country’s most complex logistics operations balances automation, efficiency and human input to meet high-volume demand. On the surface, it seems far…
NHS Group Structures: Navigating the Shift
Across the NHS, a clear pattern is emerging: the rise of the group structure. Some trusts were early adopters, but we’re now seeing more organisations coming together, whether by uniting corporate functions or pursuing a full merger. This shift is being driven by real pressures: financial constraints, workforce shortages, duplicated services, and the ongoing drive…
AI, Communities and a Fit-for-Future Public Sector
Navigating a New Vision for Health and Local Services The government’s 10-Year Plan for the NHS lays out a bold vision of a “fit for the future” health service, with three major shifts: care closer to home, digital-first services, and a focus on prevention. It is a plan to reimagine how care is delivered by…
How Higher Education’s Challenges Are Reshaping Tech and Digital Teams
The UK higher education sector is at a crossroads. Once known for stability and long-term thinking, universities are now navigating uncertainty on every front, from squeezed budgets and changing student demographics to rising expectations for digital-first services. As someone who has spent the past six years recruiting into this space, I have seen how these…