Helen Balsdon: ‘Technology providers need a mindset shift’
As national chief nursing information officer Helen Balsdon supports the NHS’s 500,000 nursing workforce with digital tools and data to deliver improvements in patient care.
The potential of this huge workforce to unlock the benefits of digital is clear, but so too are the barriers standing in the way of progress, including workload pressures and technology that is ill-suited to nurses’ needs.
Balsdon, a former chief nursing information officer (CNIO) at Cambridge University Hospitals and a member of Digital Health Networks since 2017, wants innovation to be matched by useability.
Ahead of speaking at Digital Health Rewired 2025, she tells Digital Health News why technology providers need to listen to nurses and midwives and consider the problem before the solution.
Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS in England found that too many NHS staff experience tech as an additional burden, rather than something which frees up time to care. What needs to change to improve the technology which nurses use every day?
Having a multidisciplinary digital leadership team, with clear governance and reporting structures, is key to driving digital transformation.
Something the CNIO team are focused on is building the relationship between digital and senior clinical leaders – a well-led organisation is one where a chief nursing information officer has a close relationship with their chief nurse.
To address the issues staff face, technology providers also need a mindset shift. Many are designing the solutions then trying to define how that addresses a problem. Really, it needs to be suppliers gathering insights from nurses and midwives, so they can understand the real problems clinicians face and address these needs.
Innovative tech can help. I see lots of potential in the role of ambient voice technology, but we have to assess [these technologies] with a critical eye. It’s about asking clinicians questions to understand the problem you are trying to solve, so that systems are useable and safe.
There have been several high-profile reports on failures in maternity services, and there is ongoing concern about the pressure on midwives and the safety and quality of care. Is there a role for digital/tech in addressing these issues?
Having a clinical profession that is engaged, empowered and trained to harness the potential of digital and data is essential so that staff feel confident using tech and knowing how to identify these issues. It also helps to have digital clinical teams in place across organisations that include a dedicated CNIO and clinical safety officer.
Useability of systems play an important part. Using intuitive designs that simplify user interactions contribute to the safety and quality of care.
Organisations can act by having clear user feedback mechanisms, leveraging data-driven insights, and encouraging staff to take part in surveys to help measure and identify risks.
The electronic patient record useability survey recently carried out by NHS England is a good example of taking an informed approach to understand user needs and make improvements.
Are nurse leaders in digital being heard? And do digital nurse leaders have a career path that allows them to fulfil their potential?
Good, well-led organisations have a tight relationship between the chief nurse and the CNIO. A dozen or so organisations across the country exemplify this but there is a struggle I hear from the nursing perspective where the CNIO is detached from the executive chief nurse who is juggling other pressing priorities.
Many technology providers are designing solutions and then trying to define how that addresses a problem
Our previous surveys have found that some of the challenges have been the gap in seniority between nurse leaders and the CNIO.
Fortunately, the more recent digital maturity assessment survey (2024) is showing that average seniority of CNIO roles across England has increased.
Why are community nurses still less well served by digital/tech than their colleagues in the acute sector and how can we ensure that a ’tilt towards digital’ reaches the community?
Going back to the digital maturity assessment results, the data showed that those employed as CNIOs [in the community] were at lower bands compared to [those in] hospitals, had less coverage, and less time to do the job.
Although the results didn’t explore the makeup of these community CNIOs, speaking with district nurses it’s typical that digital, data and tech is an extra responsibility on senior nurses’ portfolio.
CNIO work is focusing on developing career paths for those who want to be digital nurse and midwife specialists. We’ve just finished a consultation with digital nurse/midwife specialists and senior nurse/midwife leaders to outline expectations and training requirements for anyone taking this path, with local input needing to be applied for local needs.
Can you give us a taster of what you’ll be talking about at Rewired 2025?
A key theme in my talks at Rewired is that we are stronger together – that’s why multidisciplinary leadership and teams are important to achieve the goals of digital transformation.
There is a lot to consider about how digital fits into enabling the nursing and midwifery workforce to provide greater patient care, so I’m looking forward to discussions about the national direction we’re taking.
Balsdon will be speaking at Rewired 2025 at the NEC in Birmingham, 18-19 March 2025. Register here.
The event is co-headline sponsored by The Access Group and Microsoft. Alcidion, Nervecentre, Solventum and Cynerio are also sponsors.
