Ring-fence places in future Topol digital health fellowship cohorts and in similar digital training programmes for those in social care, promoting applications from such roles/backgrounds. |
Where social care representation among participants in digital health training programmes is limited, actively promote targeted engagement and training in social care (eg through site visits and partnership working). |
For future Topol digital health fellowship cohorts, request or require that applicants discuss their proposed project with a local senior digital health leader (eg CCIO, CNIO, CIO etc) and document this within the submitted application. |
Support senior digital health leaders through their training, and provide encouragement and protected time within that training for those senior digital leaders to support the next generation of digital health leaders. |
Support those not successful in their applications to the fellowship programme to gain knowledge/experience regarding how to effectively engage with the digital health industry (eg through the availability of relevant e-learning content). |
Since there is greater need to reinforce the importance of reducing health inequalities when delivering new digital health (and other innovation) projects for those in postgraduate healthcare roles, a combined approach to address this issue is needed within but also beyond single initiatives, such as the Topol digital health fellowship programme. |
For future Topol digital health fellowship application rounds, the necessary consent and information governance structures could be established to allow follow-up of applicants for a period of 6–12 months in order to document how their digital health aspirations progressed and what resources may have been useful. |