Health informatics trainee on the GMTS

Tom Roberts is a Health Informatics Trainee on the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme (GMTS). Tom joined GMTS in September 2021 and is currently on his first placement with Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, working with the Digital Services Team. Tom shares his experiences of what being a Health Informatics trainee involves…

In September I began my role on the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme on the Health Informatics stream, working in the Strategy and Change department of Digital Services at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.

Starting in this role I was excited about the opportunity afforded to me, however I was worried that the work I would be doing wouldn’t have a clear connection to clinical practice or improvement of patient outcomes and experience. I have a medical and public health background, and this is of particular importance to me and was a key reason for applying for the GMTS.

In my first project I am working with the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) to implement a digitally-enabled Virtual Ward, whereby patients who would previously be admitted for monitoring can be monitored in their homes using wearable technologies such as medical smartwatches, with clinical data feeding directly into their electronic patient record to be reviewed by clinicians. This will help reduce inpatient admissions and improve flow through AMU, which will be vitally important with increasing winter pressures.

This project has shown me that being a Health Informatics graduate does give me a direct working relationship with clinical teams, and that my work will help to improve how the hospital runs and benefit patients. Projects like these come through our department thick and fast, and I am excited to see the variety of digital solutions I will get to work on in the next two years.

Tom Roberts (he/him)

Health Informatics Graduate Trainee – Digital Services
Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme