Power BI Specialist – NHS Acute Trust
Role Overview
Power BI Specialist with NHS Acute domain expertise responsible for designing, building, and optimising dashboards and analytics solutions across clinical, operational, and performance datasets.
This role sits at the intersection of:
- Data platform (often Azure / Fabric / Databricks / SQL)
- Clinical systems (EPR, PAS, ED systems)
- NHS reporting standards (SITREP, RTT, A&E, etc.)
Requirements
Core Responsibilities
Develop dashboards for:
- A&E performance (4-hour target)
- RTT pathways
- Bed occupancy & patient flow
- Theatre utilisation
- Elective recovery & waiting lists
Translate clinical KPIs into meaningful visualisations for:
- Clinicians
- Operational managers
- Exec boards
Build robust semantic models (star schema / tabular models)
Handle NHS-specific datasets:
- CDS (Commissioning Data Sets)
- SUS (Secondary Uses Service)
- HES (Hospital Episode Statistics)
Use DAX + Power Query (M) for transformations and measures
Work with:
- EPR systems (e.g. Cerner Millennium, Epic, System C)
- Data warehouses (SQL Server, Azure Synapse, Databricks)
- FDP / Foundry (in some Trusts)
Ensure near real-time or batch reporting pipelines
Apply:
- NHS DSP Toolkit (DSPT)
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Data anonymisation / pseudonymisation
Ensure dashboards comply with:
- Information Governance (IG)
- Caldicott principles
Optimise:
- Large datasets (millions of patient records)
- Incremental refresh
- Query folding
Tune Power BI Service:
- Capacity management
- Dataset refresh strategies
Work with:
- Clinical leads (Consultants, Matrons)
- Operational teams
- Trust BI / Analytics teams
Translate clinical language → data models → dashboards
Required Skills
Technical
- Power BI (Expert level)
- DAX (advanced)
- Data modelling (tabular / semantic models)
- Power BI Service & governance
SQL (advanced)
Experience with:
- Azure (Synapse / Data Factory / Fabric)
- Databricks (nice to have)
Understanding of:
- Data pipelines (ETL/ELT)
- API / integration patterns (optional)
NHS Domain Knowledge (Critical)
Acute Trust workflows:
- Patient pathways (ED → admission → discharge)
- Elective vs non-elective care
Key metrics:
- RTT, A&E 4-hour, LOS, bed occupancy
Familiarity with:
- NHS data standards & datasets
- Clinical coding (ICD-10, OPCS)
Soft Skills
- Ability to work with clinicians (non-technical stakeholders)
- Strong storytelling with data
- Experience in board-level reporting
Ideal Profile
5–10+ years in BI / analytics
2–5+ years in NHS (preferably Acute Trust)
Has delivered:
- Trust-wide dashboards
- Executive reporting packs
Exposure to FDP / Foundry / Fabric is a strong advantage