January 2023

New digital service delivers vital information for renal care

A digital summary of renal patient care is now available in the Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP), making vital information accessible where and when it’s needed.

It offers health professionals caring for people on dialysis, or who have had a life-saving transplant, a frequently updated view of an individual’s renal care, improving the patient experience.

Clinicians with access to the Welsh Clinical Portal can view a patient’s renal diagnosis, medications supplied by the renal unit, plus clinical notes from the renal system. It also contains contact details for the patient’s renal physician, surgeon, and (if relevant) details of their transplant team.

The renal team have also rolled out the ability for dialysis units to record medication administrations. This enables colleagues to see a list of recently given medications, where those facilities exist.

The aim is to support Primary Care and Emergency Department colleagues with information about a patient’s renal care that would otherwise be out of immediate reach.

Read more on our DHCW News site.

Velindre NHS Trust joins WelshPAS

The much-anticipated implementation of DHCW’s WelshPAS in Velindre NHS Trust (VCC) has successfully gone live. 

WelshPAS holds patient identification details, and records details of patients' hospital visits, including waiting list management, medical records, inpatient treatment, outpatient appointments and emergency visits. The implementation of WelshPAS in VCC forms part of DHCW’s wider ‘Cancer Programme’, established to implement a Cancer Informatics Solution for Wales to replace the current Cancer Network Information System Cymru (Canisc).

Moving VCC onto the national architecture and aligning one of their key operational systems with the rest of Wales brings significant benefits including:

• All-Wales view of a patient’s journey and facilitates more collaborative ways of working across health boards/trusts
• Consistent administration process across most of NHS Wales
• Modernisation through continuous enhancement of the system to meet user and organisational needs
• The ability for VCC to better integrate with other systems / applications

This achievement was the direct result of the commitment, determination and effort from all involved, as well as collaboration and team working across the two organisations. Early feedback has been very positive with users praising the improved access to clinical information that the new system provides.

Read more on our DHCW website.

Digital diabetes note joins up information

An electronic record designed specifically for diabetes patients has been heralded by health professionals working with diabetes patients as ‘game changing’.



One dietitian has spoken about how the digital diabetes consultation note (DCN) is saving her time, as she no longer has to write back to referring nurses or consultants.

Victoria Oldham, Diabetes specialist dietitian in Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board explained, “I can update the note and know that other relevant health professionals will also have access to it. As well as being more effective because all the information is in one place, it also saves an awful lot of time”

The note is accessed via the Welsh Clinical Portal and used to record, view and share diabetes patient information. Dr Gautam Das, a diabetes consultant, has been using the DCN since it was trialled at Prince Charles hospital in 2019. He said, “it’s a game changer. It brings about a paradigm shift in the way we manage diabetes and maintain patient records”

The DCN is available for health professionals for diabetes care including dietetics, podiatry and antenatal in hospitals in Swansea Bay, Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Hywel Dda health boards, and will be launched in Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend early in 2023.

WNCR's Claire Bevan Awarded MBE

Congratulations to Claire Bevan – Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR) for becoming a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to nursing and patient care.

Claire started her career as a Student Nurse in Cardiff in 1986 and worked for over a decade as a Senior Staff Nurse and Ward Sister in Cardiology. She subsequently progressed through a number of senior management roles, including the Executive Director of Quality and Nursing role at the Welsh Ambulance Service, which she held until 2019.



Her work toward the implementation of the WNCR – now available and being implemented within every health board and trust in Wales - is transforming the way nurses store, share and access patient information. The WNCR won ‘Best Healthcare Sector IT Project of the Year’ in the prestigious British Computing Society (BCS) 2021 UK IT Industry Awards" and most recently won Judges Health and Care Award at the MediWales Awards 2022.  

Explore a career in tech at the student open day



Are you an undergraduate or graduate student of a technology or digital degree? Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), recently awarded the best place to working in IT, is holding a career open day on Tuesday 31st January 2023.

Join us and speak to our teams to see how you could become part of the innovation within NHS Wales. The event will take place at our Cardiff Head Office at Tŷ Glan-yr-Afon, Cardiff, CF11 9AD.

Book your place now

On the day you can:

• find out about DHCW’s mission and how we use technology to improve healthcare in Wales
• take a tour of our Cardiff office and meet with our team members
• join a problem-solving challenge and win DHCW merchandise
• ask us all the questions you have during a Q&A session

Working for DHCW offers lots of employee benefits, including flexible, hybrid working, a competitive salary, 28 days of annual leave plus Bank Holidays and opportunities for career development. We are committed to recognising and celebrating our staff as the most valuable part of our organisation.

We invite you to send your CV to [email protected].