Hunter Healthcare is proud to have worked in partnership with the Association of Professional Healthcare Analysts’ Chief Data and Analytical Officer Network to research and publish a landmark report;
What Makes a Top Chief Digital and Analytical Officer?
This deep dive into a relatively new role in the NHS explores the essential attributes needed to make it to the top in this field and makes recommendations to ensure the Chief Data & Analytical Officer (CDAO) role reaches its full potential in the NHS. At Hunter Healthcare, we are proud to support this research and advocate for stronger, more empowered CDAOs within the NHS.
Our report sheds light on how the role of the CDAO is evolving, capturing both areas of progress and those that are still needed for a path to success. It may not have all the answers, but we can support CDAOs to help them grow and evolve as a core part of the healthcare landscape. The report looks at key areas that will strengthen the position of the CDAO and help unlock the full potential of data and analytics in the NHS.
First, CDAOs need to be elevated to an executive level, or at least have their voice heard loud and clear in executive decisions. It’s critical for such a presence to exist in order for data and analytics to be recognised as strategic assets of the organisation. We must set up CDAOs so that they can contribute directly to the strategic direction helping the NHS embed data insights into a patient-centred, more efficient, modern data-led health service.
Further, the role of the CDAO should shift from simply reporting to engaging in strategic decisions. This will give those in the role scope for becoming more predictive and proactive towards data-driven actionable insights. CDAOs can be catalysts for improving data liquidity in the NHS and should be directly involved in leveraging the power of advanced analytics and AI for their organisations, alongside helping to shape national policy in the context of the Federated Data Platform and Secure Data Environments.
Formalised career development programs for data professionals also need to be established, which would offer ways to develop skill levels and routes to professional accreditation so that the data specialist is resourced and incentivised in their quest for further development.
The report also examines nurturing of the next generation of CDAOs through flexible recruitment practices, which develop the talent early by hiring directly from universities, or even schools, to guarantee a steady supply of skilled data professionals.
These recommendations, in addition to building a robust network around the role of the CDAO, will enable CDAOs to drive the agenda in innovation, improvement in the quality of NHS care, and help to drive insight-driven excellence in the NHS.
