Charlotte Steele, CCG Pharmacy Technician, shares her experience of the Leeds Health and Care Academy Level 4 Data Analyst Apprenticeship, which is delivered in partnership with Multiverse. Recruitment for the current cohort is now closed. However, if you’d like to be added to the waiting list for the next Data Analyst programme, please contact us at LHCA@nhs.net to let us know.
This course is not just for people who have the words ‘Data’ or ‘IT’ in their job title. If you use any sort of data, then this course is for you!
“I have been on the course for almost 2 months now. The thing that drew me to this apprenticeship was my pre-existing interest in big data, in the social media sense; it tracks what we do and learns who you are as a person, so it knows what to show you to draw you in deeper.
In a healthcare setting, it can be used to identify areas of high morbidity – why is something affecting this cohort of patients, what factors are contributing – and from that, techniques can be applied to improve patient lives and reduce the disparity of health across Leeds, creating a more equity based system, rather than an equality based one.
On the course, we all learn the same content from a starting level, but from there any objectives or assignments that you complete can be on any data that you are familiar with! For example, being in the Clinical Pharmacy Team, I deal with a lot of prescribing data, so I was able to use a data set that I was comfortable and confident with, and then simply apply the techniques covered in our lessons.
For reference, I am a Pharmacy Technician – probably not the type of person you would expect to see on this sort of course! However, I have already found benefit from my short time on this apprenticeship.
Although I am no expert, I am now able to look at data from a different point of view; I can scrutinize, analyse and use what I know to present meaningful data that has an impact on others.
As part of my course, I have a mentor (from Multiverse) and an accountability partner (another NHS employee who is also completing the course).
The Multiverse mentors are extremely supportive, at first I felt that I would not have as many skills or as much knowledge as others on my course, but I was assured that this would not hold me back, and truthfully, it hasn’t! The mentors are more than happy to provide extra support on a one-to-one basis if you think you need it, and they will share lots of useful resources (extra ways to study/learn) to boost your confidence and knowledge.
Having the accountability partner has also meant that we can share knowledge, ideas, or just support each other whenever needed.
This course is not just for people who have the words ‘Data’ or ‘IT’ in their job title. If you use any sort of data, then this course is for you! I have thoroughly enjoyed this style of learning, I have a good rapport with my mentor, I have built a new relationship with my accountability partner, and I know I am learning new skills that will help me to make a difference!”
