January 2022
New Executive Directors join the DHCW Board
Digital Health and Care Wales is pleased to announce the appointment of two new executive directors.
 
Ifan Evans, currently Welsh Government Director for Technology, Digital and Transformation, has been appointed as Executive Director of Strategy.
 
Ifan has wide-ranging experience in technology-led innovation and a deep understanding of digital and data. He was responsible for writing Welsh Government’s A Healthier Wales strategy and has led digital health and care policy in Wales since 2019 - setting a new strategic direction, strengthening delivery arrangements, and significantly increasing investment into digital transformation. 
 
Commenting on his new appointment Ifan Evans said: “I’m delighted to be joining DHCW. Digital services have never been more important to the people of Wales. This is a great opportunity to work even more closely with the team at DHCW and to lead on innovation and strategy.”
 
A successful appointment has also been made to the role of Executive Director of Operations, and further details will be announced shortly, once the successful applicant’s notice period has been finalised.
 
DHCW CEO Helen Thomas said: “I am truly pleased to announce that we have made these two new appointments. I look forward to working with both and believe they will be invaluable additions to the Board. They bring a depth of experience and fresh perspectives and will play a major role in helping us take forward our ambitious national programme to enable the digital transformation of health and care in Wales.
 
Both new appointments will take up their positions with DHCW in the spring.
DHCW support for NHS Covid Pass includes both digital and paper passes

Citizens in Wales are eligible to get a copy of their Covid Pass providing they have had two doses of an approved vaccine (or one single dose of 'Janssen' vaccine) through a digital app and a paper version, both of which are supported by DHCW.

The NHS Covid Pass lets people share their coronavirus vaccination status and test result which is now required should you wish to travel abroad to certain countries, or attend certain events or venues in Wales or England.
 
DHCW provides support to the Covid Pass by sending vaccination records recorded in Welsh Immunisation Service to our NHS Digital partner that manages the service via the Welsh Pandemic Record integration.
 
Welsh citizens are also able to request a paper version of their NHS Covid Pass should they be unable to apply online. Paper certificates are issued providing the citizen has had a full course of the COVID-19 vaccination and are aged 12 or over.

In order to support the paper pass process, DHCW have developed a dashboard which is accessed by a 'Paper Pass Cell Centre Team' that determines eligibility for a paper pass, and who create a printed vaccination record to be printed on secure stationary once criteria is met. 

Citizens in Wales can log on to gov.wales/get-your-nhs-covid-pass, register for NHS Log in and, once successfully authenticated, have visibility of their domestic and international travel COVID-19 passes whenever required.
Free Video Consulting training available for primary care clinicians

Free training for the NHS Wales Video Consulting Service is available for GPs, pharmacists, dentists and opticians who wish to provide secure video consultations to their patients.
 
The training is made available in cooperation between DHCW’s Primary Care Team and TEC Cymru and takes about 45 minutes. Clinicians can either book a live session or complete a webinar anytime.
 
The NHS Wales Video Consulting Service has been rolled out by Welsh Government to offer healthcare services in a safe and secure way to see patients via a video appointment. All practices need to use the service is:
 
·      A computer with access to a webcam and a headset.
·      A tablet or mobile phone with access to a camera.
·      The latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Apple Safari.
·      A member of your practice to assume responsibility for setting up/removing colleagues within the system and to ‘manage’ your virtual waiting room. They will be known as your ‘super user’ and will be required to attend training at the same time/prior to other members of your team.
 
More information is available – for both patients and clinicians – on the TEC Cymru Website at:
WNCR Engagement Events scheduled for March

A series of Welsh Nursing Care Record stakeholder engagement events - focusing on standardisation, student involvement and development, and the what's ahead for the WNCR - is scheduled for this March.

The events will be streamed via Microsoft Teams and include:

3 March 2022, 14.30 -15.30

Sharing the WNCR journey to date, how the WNCR can assist with student experience and learning through using the WNCR in adult inpatient wards across Wales. We value feedback from Universities and students across Wales to inform the ongoing development of the WNCR as current system users and future nurses of NHS Wales.
 
17 March 2022, 14:30 - 15:30

An introduction to the WNCR journey, lessons learnt and will focus on the technical development and next steps of the digital system.
 
24 March 2022, 14.30 -15.30 

Introducing the standardisation methodology to nursing documentation in Wales and the importance of information standards across clinical systems. Lessons learnt from implementation of the WNCR into adult inpatient wards across Wales will also be explored.

Welsh Health Hack's Back

The Welsh Health Hack has returned! Do you have a work challenge that you’d like some of our best and brightest innovators to help you solve?
 
Hack organisers are looking for challenges from colleagues working in the health and social care sector that are focused on tackling some of the new challenges which have surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Past winning ideas include transparent Face Masks, Long COVID mobile-apps, automated measuring devices for kidney function and AI-powered image recognition for early detection of skin cancer.

The Welsh Health Hack is managed by Life Sciences Hub Wales, supporting innovation to create healthcare systems, process, practices, methods fit for the future supported by technology. It offers a great opportunity for NHS Wales staff, universities, and industry to collaborate and network to develop early-stage ideas that might solve operational health challenges proposed by real clinicians and health workers in Wales. 

Participants will gain access to innovation experts who will offer advice on how to take proposed solutions forward, as well as having the chance to secure up to £20,000 funding from the Welsh Government innovation project pot of up to £250,000.
 
Submit your challenge idea by 11 February 2022.