Fran Beadle's inspiring clinical informatics career trajectory proves it's never too late to pursue your goals
Fran Beadle’s career to date has seen her climb the ranks not once – but twice.
Now the Chief Nursing Information Officer for Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), Fran left school with limited formal qualifications and joined the Army at 18 as a healthcare assistant.
She is a registered nurse who holds an MSc in Health Informatics and advises on standardising nursing documentation to ensure consistency and accuracy. Fran also advises on the development and implementation of clinical electronic systems and on policies and guidelines at local and national levels. She leads clinical informatics roles to improve patient care and clinical workflows.
DHCW is an expert national delivery body within the NHS Wales family, providing the leadership, digital skills, infrastructure and operational services to transform health and care. Part of the NHS Wales family, DHCW has an important role in changing the way health and care services are delivered through technology and data.
Fran’s extensive knowledge of nursing knowledge and technical skills has helped enable digital transformation improvements for patients and clinicians across Wales.
“Because I didn’t have the qualifications to be a nurse at that time, I joined the Army as a healthcare support worker. It made me the person I am today,” she said.
It wasn’t until she was in her early thirties that she took the plunge and finally pursued her dream career in nursing.
“I’d always wanted to be a nurse. When I left the Army I decided it was the prime opportunity for me to become educated.”
Fran’s inspiring career trajectory proves it’s never too late to pursue your goals – but she admits she fell into her digital healthcare career accidentally. Qualifying as a registered nurse in 2000 from Cardiff University, Fran spent the next three years working in University Hospital Llandough and University Hospital of Wales.
Her first digital role came soon after – in the United Arab Emirates.
Swapping UHW for UAE in 2003, Fran represented nursing in the rollout of an electronic patient record at Tawam Hospital and soon realised her passion for digital healthcare.
“I'd always had an interest in documentation and the compliance of documentation,” Fran explained. “Standardised documentation for 7,000 nursing users had been developed by the time I’d left.”
She’d found her niche. Hiraeth calling, Fran turned her attention to using her skills to make an impact closer to home.
“I was born in England but moved to Wales when I was 16, all my family are here.”
That’s when Fran saw a job opportunity at DHCW’s predecessor organisation (NWIS).
In 2017, Fran became the only Nursing Clinical Informaticist in Wales. The impact of the role is clear to see with the introduction of around 84 clinical informaticists across a range of disciplines in nursing and midwifery, in addition to a team of 10 clinical informaticists in DHCW who work closely with health boards across Wales.
Clinical informaticists bridge the gap between clinicians and technical experts to create a shared understanding for development of digital products, data and services. They are all required to register with a professional body to enable them to practise.
Fran explains: “It’s a dual role. I have to re-validate every third year as a nursing professional so I must keep up-to-date clinically.
“It's like bridging two worlds, but at the same time bringing them together.
“Across the world, IT has historically been done to people and actually it's just not like that anymore.
“DHCW develops solutions for our clinical staff and my role is to make sure that the right information is delivered at the right time in the easiest way possible.”
Fran’s work at DHCW has been instrumental in the introduction and development of national data and information standards for nursing and midwifery, as well as embedding the work of clinical informaticists in health boards and trusts across Wales.
Among the systems and services that Fran has played a pivotal role in include NHS Wales’s digital nursing system – the Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR).
WNCR is a digital system designed and built by DHCW, in collaboration with all seven health boards across Wales and Velindre University NHS Trust. It enables nurses to complete assessments at a patient’s bedside on a mobile tablet, or other handheld device, saving time, improving accuracy and minimising duplication.
WNCR has captured more than 18.9 million inpatient nursing notes across Wales. It is now used in 331 wards across 57 hospital sites, and that number is growing as the rollout continues. Since the WNCR was first launched, more than 344,000 inpatients have been digitally assessed.
Fran draws upon skills she learned previously in her Army career to drive forward positive change and she is passionate about helping to empower colleagues and find their voice.
“Having been through that career journey where I haven’t always been included, I try to bring that into my role.
“Everybody has something to bring to the table. Compassionate leadership is about recognising that.
“It's about, 'how can I help you to help yourself’?
Fran explains how she has remained resilient throughout her career as a woman working in digital healthcare, and the advice she would offer to those facing similar challenges.
She said: “It's breaking down barriers, but also having the courage to stand up for what you believe in.
“And that doesn't mean you need to be aggressive about how to do it. It's about how you knock on those doors.
“Go to others for advice. There is always somebody who’s been there before.
“For me as a leader, it’s about mentoring and empowering others to have the courage to have those conversations.
“Always be true to yourself but at the same time be honest. If you tackle problems like that I think you can succeed in anything you do.”
Reflecting on experiencing imposter syndrome in the past, Fran was able to overcome any element of doubt as she settled into her role as she allowed herself to realise how far she’d come and the positive impact that her work was having.
Fran said: “I began my career in the NHS in an entry-level position and have since progressed to the most senior level for my particular role.”
While self-belief has an important role to play, Fran says taking constructive feedback is helpful for those who want to advance in their career.
“Just remember it's never personal. It's always about being able to achieve greater things.”
Fran’s commitment to continuous learning has seen her recently being accepted onto the Advanced Clinical Leadership Programme. Run by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), the programme aims to create a cohort of leaders with the right values, behaviour, knowledge, skills and confidence to build a culture of compassionate and inclusive leadership.