Jan Hoogewerf: Creating standards-based NHS IT job descriptions to close the digital skills gap
We caught up with Jan Hoogewerf, head of health and care at BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, before her session at Rewired 2025. Hoogewerf and BCS colleagues have collaborated with the Federation of Informatics Professionals (FEDIP) to develop a new set of role descriptions for health sector digital, data and IT roles. She will discuss how these standards-based role descriptions could prove to be a vital tool for CIOs and organisations in closing digital skills gaps.
Can you tell us a bit about who you are, what you do, and what you will be talking about at Rewired?
I’m head of health and care at BCS. I support BCS members that work in health and care, including CIOs, technical specialists and those working with digital data. We provide them with access to resources, support and guidance to help with their professional skills and career development.
BCS has been working with FedIP to develop an occupational architecture, that is a set of job profiles for digital data and tech roles in the NHS. I’m going to be speaking about this at Rewired as they are now published and being used in the NHS census this year to provide a more accurate picture of digital roles than has been possible in the past. .
Why have you chosen to create standards-based NHS IT job descriptions?
The NHS is going through a huge amount of digital change. Across organisations, there are lots of different roles and job titles, which creates disparity and confusion. We can see there’s a growing skills gap, but leaders may lack clarity on what gaps exist today and may emerge in the future.
We’ve worked with the NHS and used the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework ( GDaD) alongside SFIAplus (BCS’s skills framework, which is an extension of the internationally recognised Skills Framework for an Information Age) to develop job profiles for all major data digital and tech roles within the NHS.
Our job descriptions will provide consistency between roles, enabling comparability and skills matching. It should also help healthcare IT professionals to identify their development needs and create career pathways with the confidence they’re developing the skills they need to operate at the highest levels.
To bring clarity on pay scales, FEDIP are working with Digital Health and Care Wales, who are undertaking a band mapping exercise, providing Agenda for Change pay banding for major roles.
You talk about the digital skills gap. How have the digital skills required in the NHS changed in recent years?
We can see changing roles and responsibilities across the NHS. At the top, the role of the CIO is now broader, not just tech management. We’re also seeing more CDIOs and chief analytics officers within the NHS.
To achieve improvements in productivity and better patient outcomes, the NHS needs access to skilled IT professionals. For example, data management and analysis are vital. But, beyond the technical elements, softer skills – including transformational change management, relationship management, and talent management – are also hugely in demand.
The impact and potential of AI is a key talking point at the Rewired 2025. What’s your view on its application in the health sector?
AI is incredible, but we must find ethical ways to incorporate it into the health service. BCS has developed a foundation certification in ethical AI, which addresses working ethically with the development and implementation of new technologies, including AI.
BCS has a specialist group specifically exploring the complex relationship between health and care and AI. We don’t have all the answers, but events like Rewired enable us to network, share experiences and challenges and explore these issues with others.
How do you think digital change and AI will influence the future health IT workforce?
To define the workforce you need for the future, you need to understand the workforce you’ve got now – which is where the job profiles we have created provide huge value. Leaders can use those profiles to assess their workforce and identify skills gaps today – and new positions that will need to be filled in the medium-long-term.
This skills mapping can enable organisations to get on the front foot, identifying their skills gaps and filling them by recruiting to new roles, developing existing staff, setting up apprenticeships. It’s about understanding the skills your organisation needs and building a roadmap to get there.
Does BCS provide support for organisations in doing this?
In addition to the NHS IT role descriptions that are available off the shelf, we have also developed a software tool that people can use to map their team and understand where the capabilities are and identify skills gaps. They can use that to forward plan what they need in future and better target their L & D spend.
BCS can provide support to individuals and organisations in developing those skills through our CPD learning resources and professional certifications. We have toolkits for managers on successfully managing apprenticeships. We also offer leaders the chance to complete the International Certified Healthcare CIO, which is a way to validate that they’ve got the sort of skills that you need as a CIO now and in the future.
You’re speaking at Rewired 2025 but will have the opportunity to attend the event and see other speakers. What are you most excited about?
Rewired is an incredible opportunity to network and catch up with everything that is happening in digital health and care. The NHS and wider healthcare sector is in the middle of a complete digital transformation, and we need to collaborate and share ideas, which is why Rewired is more important now than ever.
Jan Hoogewerf, head of health and care at BCS will appear at Rewired 2025, 19 March on the Leadership and Teams Stage for a panel session ‘What’s in a name – launch of national occupational architecture for digital, data and technology roles’
Rewired is free for those in the NHS and public sector. Private sector tickets from: £495 +VAT. Register now and book your accommodation early to secure the best rates. Register today.
