Digital Healthcare Scientist role to be created through new degree

A new Digital Healthcare Scientist role within the NHS is to be created following the launch of a new degree.

The BSc degree, developed in partnership with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, will be open as both a full-time undergraduate course and a degree apprenticeship.

As a result, a brand new role in the NHS, Digital Healthcare Scientist, will be created.

Graduating students will be eligible to apply for membership of the Academy for Healthcare Sciences under the new heading of Digital Healthcare Science. This represents the formation of a new healthcare professional and a new branch within the academy, the first for many years.

The course, launched by the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, has been designed with the aim of introducing digital science and fusion science into the healthcare system.

Students will learn in an integrated way, applying knowledge, and ensuring that no subject is taught in isolation from any other.

Four fusion sciences, behavioural science; healthcare and physiological sciences; digital dealthcare; and shared clinical decision-making, will be interwoven throughout the programme giving students a breadth of scientific training.

The course is also accredited by the National School of Healthcare Science as part of Health Education England.

Tim Jones, executive director of workforce and innovation at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, said: “This is an exciting new degree which will help us train people for a significant new role in the NHS.

“University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust is also offering six full-time undergraduate students the opportunity for a paid summer vacation placement at the end of the first year of study.”