Clatterbridge to support careers in healthcare data as early adopter of new framework

Posted 16th October 2023

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has become the only Trust in the North West and the only specialist hospital in the country to be accepted as an early adopter of a new National Competency Framework (NCF) for the recruitment and development of data professionals.

Data is a vital component to making sound clinical and operational decisions within the healthcare sector and it’s important that a skilled and experienced workforce is in place to help manage that data effectively.

The new NCF aims to make health and care one of the best places to work as a data professional, with adopters working together to standardise who data professionals are, what they do and how they develop.

Being an early adopter of the NCF means the Business Intelligence Team at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has the opportunity to help shape the scheme for other data professionals across the UK, raising the profile of data and analysis as a profession within the healthcare system. The NCF also aims to provide leadership and strategy to professionals within the system and build stronger data literacy skills, particularly in senior leaders.

As one of only eight early adopters of the NCF in the country, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre was part of a launch event and expert panel at the Annual Association of Professional Healthcare Analysts (APHA) Conference, advising other organisations ahead of national rollout of the scheme, due to be completed by March 2024.

Chief Data Officer from The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Paula Pickford said: “We’re delighted to have been accepted as an early adopted of the new NCF. This proves our commitment to recruiting, developing and nurturing talented data professionals within our team here, as well as the data and analysis profession as a whole.

“Collaboration is key to the success of the NCF and it’s been a privilege to support and guide other healthcare organisations as they begin their own rollout of the scheme. Our team worked really hard to secure our status as an early adopter of the NCF and I’d like to say a huge thank you to them for their efforts in raising the profile of the profession.”

(Photo: Paula Pickford, Chief Data Officer (centre) with members of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre's BI Team at the APHA Conference)