Becoming confident and making an impact with digital and AI

Gill Horne, Programme Director - Care Services at Rowcroft Hospice, talks to us about how she went from a senior hospice nurse to helping develop digital and AI tools for the health and care sector.

Digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly reshaping many sectors, and it can be daunting to step into the unknown—especially when you have little experience with either. I wanted to talk about my journey with digital and AI, how I entered the space and the projects I’ve been involved in since.

My journey into the world of digital began with the Topol digital fellowship, an NHS Digital Academy programme designed to equip health and social care professionals with the skills needed to lead digital transformations and innovations within their organisations.

I was lucky enough to be funded by Health Education England (HEE) to enrol on this programme and complete my studies over one year. There were regular learning sessions, talks from digital health and social care practitioners and online community drop-in sessions scheduled throughout the 12 months to support my learning.

As a senior hospice nurse in South Devon with little prior knowledge of digital technology and AI, it was incredible to learn about a subject I initially knew so little about. I can hardly believe the journey it has taken me on.

One of the first projects I was involved in after completing my Topol was co-designing a decision-making tool for care homes, aimed at helping staff use digital technology and AI to support residents with dementia and other chronic conditions. This was a collaborative effort with people living with experience of dementia or MND, their families, academics and care staff, and while I was initially nervous, I found that the insight I brought from years of nursing experience was invaluable in shaping the tool. The process taught me that technology isn't something to be feared—it’s a tool that can enhance care when used thoughtfully.

The more I learned, the more confident I became in pursuing new opportunities. With a small project team at Rowcroft Hospice, we successfully applied to The Health Foundation’s ‘Tech for Better Care’ programme. Together, we’re designing an app to support patients and their families at the end of life, giving them more ways to connect with hospice teams and access important information when they need it most.

This app is currently in the prototyping stage of development and aims to respond to the needs we discovered in our exploratory research phase. It will have some interactive components, giving patients and their carers more opportunities to connect with the hospice teams, gain the information they need when they are worried and enabling staff to be more proactive in meeting their needs.

I also took on the challenge of applying for the AWS IMAGINE grant to develop AI-driven nursing care solutions for people with dementia. This was a moment where I truly had to push past my fears—applying for a tech grant with limited knowledge felt overwhelming. But by working with technical partners who helped craft the digital architecture of the application, we succeeded. Now, we're developing an AI hydration monitoring system and an AI-enabled door entry/exit system to improve the safety and independence of residents in care homes.

The first of these is almost ready for testing, which is very exciting (Life Sentinel AI - Empowering Older People Care with AI Technology). I’m still on a huge learning curve, running a project on digital and AI but as a nurse, and our tech partners say they are also learning from me – asking questions that I know our patients and families would want answered and focusing the success measures on what’s important to future residents, their families, and staff.

The key lesson I’ve learned through these experiences is that you don’t need to be a tech expert to make a difference. What matters is having the willingness to learn and the courage to step outside your comfort zone. As nurses, we are often closest to our patients or residents, meaning we know where there is potential to help improve care or enable care to be more efficient. We have unique insights into the needs of our patients and residents, and that perspective is critical in shaping how technology is developed and implemented in our sector.

So, if you’re hesitant to engage with digital tools or AI, take the leap. You don’t have to go it alone—there are technology companies and partners who are just as eager to learn from you as you are from them. The most important thing is to start, and as you do, you’ll see how your ideas can transform care and improve the lives of those we support.

Find out more about our 'building digital confidence' campaign by visiting our landing page.

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