The programme is designed for health and care professionals involved in commissioning, planning or delivering services across the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System.

The course focuses on accessible and impactful tools and dashboards, exploring how linked data can be used across organisations and health and care systems to support planning, service design, and tackling inequalities in the system.

The Academy is a three-month programme made up of three virtual workshops and three active learning sets (a group of people within a workplace that meet with the specific intention of solving workplace problems).

Programme workshops and active learning sets are delivered virtually on Microsoft Teams, with additional digital collaboration facilitated through a dedicated FutureNHS workspace. 

Subject matter experts join the workshops and active learning sets to share their expert knowledge around the tools in focus, their application in the business setting, and relevant case studies.

The Academy programme includes six virtual sessions accredited for Continuing Professional Development (CPD), amounting to 10.5 CPD points for delegates who attend all sessions.

Participation in the full programme requires a time commitment of approximately 20 hours.

Key benefits include:

• Opportunities to connect with peers across the system to share ideas and best practices.
  Learning from subject matter experts on the functionality of tools and dashboards, and how to use them to best effect.
• Empowering participants to use data-led interventions.
  Developing techniques to identify health inequalities and leveraging data tools to address them.
• Increased confidence, knowledge, and understanding about how data can help to plan services and improve health and care.
• Enabling the development of risk-stratified, targeted, and more integrated patient care.

A schedule of standalone masterclasses is available upon request for those who have an interest but are unable to attend the full programme.

The programme is made up of three virtual workshops and active learning sets, each focused on readily available tools and dashboards that support data-informed decision-making.
Key topics include:

• Enhanced Case Finding Tool – This tool uses a wide range of data to quickly identify individuals and groups who could benefit from early support and care. 
  Waiting List/Elective Recovery Dashboard – A tool that enables the review of waiting lists across the ICS, providing insights into the characteristics and needs of those who are waiting to receive care.
• Inequalities and Complexity – Exploring insights and associated opportunities for families with multiple complexities, often associated with poverty and broader determinants of health challenges.
• Business Intelligence Portal and Real-World Intervention Causal Evaluation (RICE) methodology – Using rapid linked data evaluation methods and research to support local and regional decision-making. The Academy helps people to understand the methodology, its applications, and how to use it to manage projects.

To ensure the programme remains relevant to the current needs of people in Cheshire and Merseyside, the course content is driven by a multi-professional steering group, including clinicians and academics. Content may vary from cohort to cohort as there may be a focus on different tools as technology advances and local needs and priorities change.

The Academy runs three cohorts per year, each accommodating 20 attendees, with varying start dates. To have a discussion with the Academy Lead and to apply for the programme, please contact us.