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WELCOME TO THE NHS WALES
DIGITAL NURSING
AND MIDWIFERY NEWSLETTER
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This newsletter will help keep nurses and stakeholders informed of the standardisation and digitisation of nursing documentation in NHS Wales, as well as updates concerning the digital applications that nurses and midwives will be using. |
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Sign up to the digital nursing and midwifery newsletter and get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox |
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Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR) - Adult Inpatient Wards |
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Two years of the Welsh Nursing Care Record |
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April 2023 marked two years since the WNCR first went live. To mark the occasion, DHCW spoke to nurses across Wales to hear their experiences of using the system and the difference it’s made to the care provided to patients. |
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WNCR Paediatrics Update from Sian Thomas, Senior Responsible Owner
I am delighted to have joined DHCW as senior responsible owner for phase 3 of the digitalisation of nursing documentation, which is specific to in-patient paediatrics.
The key focus within the first few months has been on establishing the governance and assurance processes, with the first Welsh Nursing Care Record (In-patient Paediatrics) Project Board meeting being held in early July.
The team have really valued engaging with the clinical teams in paediatric units across Wales to discuss the paediatric WNCR and have an opportunity to demonstrate how it will look and feel.
The funding from the Welsh Government’s digital priorities investment fund (DPIF), will allow for the recruitment of clinical nurse specialist and product specialist roles within health boards. National recruitment has commenced for these key roles that will be invaluable in supporting the project within their organisation.
If you would like further information please contact, sian.thomas8@wales.nhs.uk.
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WNCR team receive high commendation at HSJ Digital Awards |
The Welsh Nursing Care Record team received a high commendation at this year's HSJ Digital Awards. The team were finalists in the Digital Team of the Year category.
At the time the team were shortlisted in March 2023, the WNCR was being used in 239 wards across 41 hospital sites - accounting for 66% of eligible wards in Wales, and it continues to grow. Nurses, healthcare professionals and patients have all spoken about the positive impact of the WNCR.
“It’s been a really useful tool for us all. I think all the nurses would agree that it’s really simple to use, and it’s really for us all to share information and work together.” Naomi Jones, Student Nurse, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
“It definitely saves time, and I think it’s better for patient care, because it means we can spend more time with them, rather than completing paperwork.” Stacie Hall, Staff Nurse, Hywel Dda University Health Board.
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Business Change Team Update
It’s been a busy few months for Business Change in the WNCR project.
We have supported the Betsi Cadwaladr team in their go live rollouts in Eryri and Penrhos Stanley community hospitals.
While continuing our support of the adult assessment rollouts and upcoming new releases, the Business Change team are also supporting the start of the Paediatric WNCR project, visiting the Children’s wards around Wales to meet the teams and talk with them about what to expect on their digital journey.
During June, we piloted sessions in University of South Wales, giving an overview and demo of WNCR to student nurses in their first year. The sessions were well received and we look forward to working with universities across Wales with similar sessions in the future.
If you have any questions about our work or require any resources to support you, please email Cerian.john@wales.nhs.uk.
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End-to-end process review |
The WNCR end-to-end process is currently under review. The process starts from when a new document is initially recognised as needing digitisation, all the way through to when it’s live in WNCR.
So far, the current ‘as is’ process has been mapped out and the team will next be agreeing the improvements required to shape the ‘to be’ process, which aims to be quicker, clearer and more efficient.
Representatives from health board CNIOS and CNS have taken part in the review, along with members of the national team including BAs, Clinical Informatics, Data Standard, Business Change, Development, Testing and Project Management.
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DHCW Staff Recognition Awards
Congratulations to the WNCR National Team and Beverley Havard who were both winners this year's DHCW Staff Recognition Awards.
The WNCR national team, consisting of DHCW in partnership with Swansea Bay University Health Board and nursing representation from health boards and trusts, won Team of the Year. The WNCR has been implemented in all health boards and Velindre Trust in just 20 months. The team have achieved huge success in standardising and digitising documents across NHS Wales.
Beverley Havard won the Digital Ambassador of the Year award. Beverly joined the Welsh Nursing Care Record team as a clinical informaticist last July and plays a key role in promoting digital practices and ways of working to nurses and other clinicians.
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The national programme team is being established, with recruitment of a Programme Manager and five health board Clinical Maternity Informatics Leads. Recruitment of the remaining two health boards leads is underway.
Work to establish the programme governance is well underway, with the first strategic Steering Group held on 31 May 2023, and the first Programme Board meeting scheduled for 14 July 2023. The programme team are working to ensure the right clinical and digital membership is secured to support delivery of the desired programme benefits and outcomes.
The programme is also setting up Clinical and Technical Assurance Groups to support the procurement of a national solution that meets the needs of users and works as part of the rest of our national architecture. The team are in the process of completing market engagement to understand the current landscape of maternity solution suppliers before the formal procurement commences.
As the programme set-up progresses over the summer, the team will be working towards delivering plans to support the four principal areas of work:
- An end-to-end maternity solution for staff across NHS Wales.
- A women and birthing people’s portal to support partnership of care with clinicians.
- Standardisation of the clinical pathways across NHS Wales.
- A quality framework to ensure NHS Wales can publish data about service delivery across Wales and ensure that we identify and learn from the best practice across the nation.
Jon Pinkney, National Programme Manager said, “I’m honoured to be working on this exciting and important piece of work. I will ensure the programme is driven by the needs of women and birthing people and the clinicians and staff who support maternity care. Engagement with our users will be a critical factor in delivering a successful outcome”.
Sian Thomas, Senior Responsible Owner said, “I’m delighted that the Digital Maternity Cymru Programme is now live and the governance structure is being established. Procuring and implementing an all-Wales digital solution will support the delivery of safe, effective and seamless care from both a service user and professional perspective."
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Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio (DMTP) |
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New leadership appointment for hospital e-Prescribing and Medicines Administration programme |
Dr Lesley Jones is to lead the biggest change to hospital prescribing and medicines administration in Wales in decades.
Bringing a wealth of experience from more than 30 years in nursing, Lesley has been appointed following interview as Senior Responsible Officer for the Secondary Care ePrescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) programme. She will also continue as Head of Nursing for Professional Standards and Digital in Hywel Dda University Health Board, dividing her time between the two roles.
The Secondary Care ePMA programme is part of the Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio (DMTP) hosted by Digital Health and Care Wales. It brings together four programmes that will deliver the benefits of a fully digital prescribing approach in all care settings in Wales. When introduced, the use of the latest digital technology will make the whole process of prescribing, administering and dispensing medicines in hospitals safer, easier and more efficient.
She said, “I am pleased to have this opportunity to make a difference. As a nurse I have seen how technology can streamline processes and help make patient care safer and easier. Feedback from the WNCR demonstrated a huge appetite for more digital services. We are living in exciting times, introducing lasting technology change that takes into account the underlying processes of healthcare and the experiences of staff and of patients.”
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ePMA: An Audience with Swansea Bay University Health Board |
On 24 and 25 May over 100 healthcare professionals learned more about the benefits and challenges faced when implementing an ePMA system. The event was hosted by the Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio at Cardiff City Stadium. The learning from the event will support the planned introduction of ePMA on every ward across Wales.
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Community Nursing, Children’s Services and District Nursing Update |
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District Nursing National Digital Development Project (DN NDDP)
Ongoing clinical engagement is underway across Wales to discuss the processes, issues, wants and needs and clinician experiences within services. These services include mental health, children's services and district nursing. Thanks to Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Swansea Bay University Health Board and Powys Teaching Health Board for hosting meetings and discussions over the past month.
The All-Wales District Nursing Forum have facilitated discussions to commence work on standardising an initial assessment document.
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Florence Nightingale Scholars |
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Congratulations to Bethany Kruger, Aron White, Sara Lucena Araujo, Barry Morgan and Hazel Powell who have all been successful in their application to undertake a Florence Nightingale Scholarship.
Over the coming issues of our Nursing Newsletter, we aim to bring you a series of blogs from our Florence Nightingale Scholars in Wales to demonstrate their journey and why you should apply. The next blog in this series is from Lisa Graham, Interim Head of Nursing at Swansea Bay University Health Board.
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Florence Nightingale Digital Leadership Scholarship Blog
To say I was shocked when I was accepted for the Florence Nightingale Digital leaders Scholarship was an understatement. I will be forever grateful to Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) and the Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF) for the opportunity. The journey so far has really pushed me out of my comfort zone by offering me courses and programmes that I may not have previously thought about.
The scholarship allows you to explore leadership opportunities to suit your individual learning needs and requirements along with some compulsory courses such as CHIME and RADA Business.
CHIME was a residential course that really challenged my thinking about the role digital technology has in Nursing. This course has opened up links for me across the UK and globally, plus I can now officially call myself a certified digital health leader (CDHL) after successfully passing the exam. RADA, also a residential course, allowed me to explore my leadership style with a great group of nurses in a psychologically safe space.
I am about to embark on a course that comes highly recommended by FNF alumni Eden Project’s HotHouse women’s leadership retreat. A gain, this is a residential course based in Cornwall. I am really looking forward to seeing what this course adds to what has already been a fantastic journey.
My QI project is still ongoing and as with all projects there are always challenges that we need to overcome. My vision of an interactive real time digital Quality & Safety dashboard ‘The Buzz’ will continue.
As Senior Nurses with large portfolios that often span across several hospital sites, having a helicopter view of the daily quality, safety and risks was a challenge. I wanted a platform where I was able to have all this information in one place. The dashboard is still a work in progress, but it has not stopped my project from gaining traction. The Buzz has been implemented across four divisions, albeit an Excel version.
Having Senior Responsible Officer Claire Bevan and Chief Nursing Information Officer Fran Beadle as my mentors throughout this journey has been one of the many highlights for me. They have really invested their time in me on a 1 to 1 level and through group CPD Sessions. Combined, their knowledge has stretched my thinking and positively challenged my imposter syndrome!
As my FNF Journey comes to an end, the experience will have a lasting impact on the next chapter of my leadership journey, with new friends, colleagues and knowledge. I would highly recommend this programme to anyone that really wants to make a positive impact in the world of nursing leadership.
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Look out for icon on the left, this will appear on your desktop and take you directly in to the Welsh Nursing Care Record application.
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