Rebecca Saunders is a Digital Matron for Adoption and Transformation at North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT). In this role, Rebecca leads on adoption and transformation initiatives, empowering individual staff members and larger teams to optimise the use of their clinical management systems and drive digital transformation across the organisation.

She also leads the Nursing and Emergency Department workstream, supporting the analogue-to-digital transformation and optimisation in these areas.

A picture of a System C character outside Southmead Hospital (North Bristol NHS Trust)

A nurse by background, Rebecca has always been a digital enthusiast, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped her ward to go paperless. This put her in touch with the CNIO, who recruited her into an engagement role for the EPR implementation. During this, she built strong relationships throughout the Trust, supporting teams to better use systems. This eventually developed into the role she holds today.

On-Site Duties and Facilitating Large-Scale Digital Transformation

One thing Rebecca loves about her role is that it is very varied. She tries to spend as much time as possible on site and always prefers to meet in person. She makes a conscious effort to be on site at least three days per week.

A typical day starts with a team huddle before meeting staff. In her role as a digital clinical specialist, Rebecca acts as a link between clinical colleagues and the IM&T department. She supports and guides clinicians in creating and implementing digital solutions, workflows, and processes, facilitating both small- and large-scale digital transformation in healthcare. This support ranges from providing quick advice via email to planning, implementing, embedding and supporting the adoption of new digital systems and solutions.

Rebecca’s Favourite Project

Rebecca has worked on many unique projects with different purposes and goals, but the one that stood out was digitising NBT’s nursing paperwork.

She said, “The realisation of walking onto a ward and not seeing any bedside folders was pretty powerful; it really brought to life the scale of change we’d achieved and the impact on both staff workflows and patient care.”

Digital First Fortnight Events

Digital First Fortnight is a two-week initiative to get staff engaged and talking about digital. This has been a significant undertaking for Rebecca and the team, as they had to co-ordinate the event over three sites. At the three sites, there are stands where NBT’s digital teams can showcase their projects. These have included digital projects, digital services teams, and others such as the library and apprenticeship services.

The digital clinical specialists have also been conducting in-person walkarounds, visiting every clinical area, speaking to staff and giving out branded materials related to the event.

The event is currently taking place and has been really successful. Rebecca explained that they receive a great deal of valuable feedback from staff.

Tips for Aspiring Digital Matrons

Rebecca suggests looking for opportunities to get involved with digital initiatives where you work. Try to make those connections, become a digital champion, go to conferences, and don’t be afraid to take opportunities. She explained that there are many opportunities available if you know where to look, and if you are struggling, feel free to contact the teams at NBT. She explained that she is always happy to discuss her role and others and support staff in exploring pathways into digital services (in a clinical or non-clinical role).

The Future

At the moment, Rebecca explained that she is happy where she is, as she really loves what she does. However, her end goal is to be CNIO.

Next Steps

Explore our extensive collection of  news and blogs, featuring a diverse array of topics, including more inspiring clinician stories.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us today. One of our experts will be in touch.