Graduation Tales | Driving change in health and social care

17 July, 2024

The first cohort of the MSc Leading Digital Transformation at Graduation

The International Convention Centre Wales in Newport has once again seen thousands of our graduates cross the stage in their cap and gown. To celebrate, we are sharing the stories of some of our inspirational students.

The first cohort of USW’s Masters course in Leading Digital Transformation are graduating this week, as part of the university’s Intensive Learning Academy for leaders and managers in health and social care.

The two-year, part-time course was co-created with health boards and social care organisations across Wales, and aims to support leaders to challenge traditional practice, and to ‘think digital first’ to reimagine and improve their organisation and services, to benefit their users, stakeholders and employees.

Each module focuses on different ways in which digital solutions can be used to address the challenges facing 21st century healthcare.

This week, 21 students are graduating from the course, including Tim Smith, Helen Williams and Ali Baig. We spoke to them about their experience of balancing demanding jobs alongside study.

Tim Smith

Tim is the Business Manager for the Powys Living Well Service (PLWS), which is based in Bronllys Hospital in Brecon, and helps people to live well with persistent pain, chronic fatigue, and weight management.

Thanks to the course, he has helped develop an immersive simulation to model the experience of an individual, from GP consultation through to the outcome of their initial consultation with the service. This has already influenced the way that his team develop and deliver its service in Powys.

Tim said: “The biggest ‘lightbulb’ moment on the course was in a discussion around developing digital strategies, where a number of us identified similar challenges – to the point where we realised that we were working within the same regional partnership space but had not really been aware of each other outside of the MSc.

“This led to us developing a professional network to share good practice and experiences with colleagues across the MSc cohorts. In March 2023, I chaired the first Community of Practice for Digital Inclusion, Accessibility and Education. We now have quarterly meetings with 90-100 professionals from the MSc cohorts, academics, and colleagues with an interest in digital inclusion across the Welsh health boards, several local authorities, and other organisations across the public and third sector including Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), Careers Wales, the Centre for Digital Public Services, Life Sciences Hub Wales and many more.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement from the course team at USW and their enthusiasm for new ideas. This has led to some really exciting projects with my team in the health board, which I’m looking forward to developing further.”

Helen Williams

Helen is a Senior Training Administrator at Powys County Council, and was studying a diploma in Digital Learning Design when she saw a funded opportunity to study the MSc at USW, offered to those working in the social care sector.

During her studies, she helped created a virtual learning platform inspired by service improvement ideas from the Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS), which has been described as ‘outstanding’ and will be rolled out throughout Powys and the wider sector.

She said: “I’m proud to have learned how to use a new piece of software and used that knowledge to create an app concept, which I then presented to colleagues across the council who are involved in the learning and development needs of social care staff.

“Being able to achieve a distinction in my Masters, balancing study with working and raising two young daughters has also been a huge milestone for me. I’ve shown Lily and Grace that no matter your age, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. I’m so grateful to my husband Darren and my girls for their support throughout.”

Ali Baig

Ali is a Senior Digital Delivery Manager for Welsh Government. During his studies, he led a digital transformation project across Welsh Government, enabling more than 300 colleagues to develop their skills in the field of Generative AI. The projected resulted in increased productivity and improved mental health and well-being; not only supporting people to adopt change through innovation, but also setting a precedent for the application of digital technology in the public sector.

He said: “During the Masters course I was able to further understand my leadership style and hone my emotional intelligence, which helped transform me into a more empathetic leader. While exploring diverse digital technologies and the impacts of various Design Thinking models, I had the freedom to think innovatively without policy constraints.

“Attending an in-person ILA Digital Transformation Conference and listening to industry experts from organisations like Amazon provided a new dimension to my approach to leading teams and problem solving. The research I conducted during the MSc really enabled me to generate fresh and innovative ideas and helped me to apply my newfound knowledge in my workplace.

“Achieving a distinction in my Masters degree while juggling family and work commitments has been an extraordinary milestone. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to USW, Welsh Government and my beloved family for their unwavering support during my two-year journey of academic and personal growth.”

Simon Read, course leader for the MSc in Leading Digital Transformation, added: “I am delighted to see such a large cohort of dedicated students graduating from our first Masters course at USW’s Intensive Learning Academy.

“The NHS is going through an unprecedented scale of change, and we need to equip our health and social care leaders to meet the challenges of the future. We created this degree to support our leaders to drive digital transformation and be a catalyst for innovation. Strong leadership is critical in improving experiences for patients, clinicians and the wider public, and we are proud to be teaching the next generation of visionary leaders.”