December 2022

* Nadolig Llawen *

* * * *

* * *

Season greetings and good wishes

for the New Year from everyone at

Digital Health and Care Wales.

Flying medics on board the Wales Air Ambulance use Welsh Clinical Portal to save time and help save lives

When the flying medics on board the Wales Air Ambulance are called for help, the crew on board are ready to deal with life and death situations. They take their skills straight to the scene, making rapid and critical decisions that determine the care and treatment needed in an emergency.

Until 2017, the air ambulance medics relied on paper, radio and phones to gather information about the health or medical history of the patient. When every second counts, this process could be time-consuming and delay critical decisions about the patient’s care.

But new technology in the shape of electronic patient records is now speeding up the process, making care safer and helping to save lives.

Thanks to collaborative work between The Emergency Medical Retrieval & Transfer Service (EMRTS) Cymru, Swansea Bay University Health Board Digital services and Digital Health and Care the air ambulance has instant access to a patient’s single medical record and medical history through the Welsh Clinical Portal, enabling faster, better informed decisions.

Visit our website for more.

Nursing records go digital and win at MediWales awards

Nurses across Wales are seeing the real impact of digital as they adopt pioneering technology to document care.

Paper forms have been replaced with standardised documents being use in practice with digital devices, such as hand-held tablets freeing up time for nursing staff while improving patient safety and experience.

Now, the impact of the new Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR) for adult in-patients has been recognised at the MediWales Awards 2022, winning the judges health and care award.

The judges said, “the WNCR is transforming the way nurses store, share and access patient information. This is a fantastic project and we’re really impressed with the positive difference it’s making to nursing in Wales”

Last month the WNCR achieved a major milestone with installation at The Grange University Hospital in Newport meaning the services is now available and being implemented within every health board and trust in Wales.

Developed by Digital Health and Care Wales in partnership with Swansea Bay University Health Board, and working collaboratively with nursing professionals, the system has been acclaimed as a huge step forward as part of the digital single patient record.

Award wins give validation to collaborative design

A DHCW team has received recognition for its collaborative work by receiving two awards from Healthcare Excellence Through Technology (HETT).

The community and mental health information services team developed a national digital design to support the care process for Looked After Children services in Wales. The Welsh Government sponsored project developed national information standards for sharing of information between practitioners and organisations. These were developed through CareDirector, a digital system which forms part of the WCCIS (Welsh Community Care Information System) programme of work within DHCW.

The design ensured data is entered once but used many times, allowing the right information to be available at the right time – and supporting the right decision to be made. The reduction in data entry also allows practitioners’ more time to care.

The team received trophies from HETT in two award categories - The ‘That will never work Award’ – for the most creative and disruptive solution, recognising ‘daring success stories’ in innovation. And the ‘Best Integrated Care Collaboration Award’ for collaborative projects, directives, and initiatives that demonstrate the power that integrated care has to offer.

DHCW highly commended at Go Awards Wales

The DHCW procurement team have been highly commended at the Go Awards in the collaborative procurement category for their work on the All Wales Microsoft Enterprise Agreement.

The Go awards celebrate procurement achievements from across Wales’ public, private and third sector organisations. The DHCW team were commended for their work with health boards and trusts to secure a five year deal to provide the latest Microsoft products, tools and services to NHS Wales.

Senior Procurement Lead, Matthew Perrott, said, “The negotiation team was supported by digital, finance and technical leads from all across Wales, without whom the deal would not have been possible. This award is recognition for all of their time, efforts and trust in working with the DHCW commercial services team to deliver a world class outcome.”

Read more on our website.

View our Welsh Language Scheme

Digital Health and Care Wales is a national organisation committed to the use and promotion of the Welsh language.

Our Welsh Language Scheme builds on the previous work undertaken as a hosted organisation under Velindre University NHS Trust. The Welsh language scheme allows us to demonstrate our commitment to the use and promotion of Welsh across our organisation and in the development of stronger bilingual services as the requirements across the NHS change and diversify.

This Welsh Language Scheme applies to the whole organisation, and we all have a responsibility to be familiar with the requirements outlined within it. We will continuously look for ways to improve our use and promotion of the Welsh language both internally and with external stakeholders.

View our Welsh Language Scheme that sets out how Digital Health and Care Wales will give effect to the principle established by the Welsh Language Act 1993 that English and Welsh language should be treated on a basis of equality.

NHS Wales library collaboration win coveted ‘Team of the Year’ award for national training programme

A collaboration between NHS Wales Library and Knowledge Services (NHSWLKS) and the NHS Wales e-Library have won the CILIP Cymru Wales ‘Welsh Library Team of the Year Award 2022’ for producing an innovative programme of live and pre-recorded library-user training delivered to NHS staff across Wales.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NHSWLKS developed a national training programme from scratch making literature and evidence searching less overwhelming and more achievable by anyone – especially for those working remotely. NHS Wales e-library supported the programme through technical support and producing directed training webinars for users.

Even as the pandemic passes, the recorded webinars continue to be a popular tool for training, designed to fit around busy and demanding work schedules and without the need for users to be connected to the NHS Wales network.