October 2022


DHCW commits to digital inclusion in Wales



DHCW has signed a Digital Inclusion Charter at a first Digital Summit event held to bring together health, care and the voluntary sectors to collaborate on how digital tools can support and enable inclusion in Wales.


The Charter exists to support and champion organisations working in the public, private or third sector in Wales who are willing to promote basic digital skills and help people get online.


Speaking at the Digital Summit event, which was co-hosted by DHCW, Welsh Council for Voluntary Action and Cwmpas, Helena Herklots, Older People’s Commissioner for Wales said, 

“Working in partnership with events like these, by listening and getting organisations and the voluntary sector working alongside each other , we can really embrace and use digital for good.


“We need to be sure, in all the digital developments we make, that we’re not doing it with any agism or age discrimination in play, and we have to challenge ourselves on that”


Simon Jones, Chair of DHCW said: “Digital developments in health are going to start becoming a lot more visible to people over the next year or so. People are going to see more opportunities for digital engagement with their services and managing their own care much more.


As we develop digital systems and applications , we want to make certain that those people who need access to services and consume more health and care services than others, aren’t in some way worse off than they might otherwise have been.


What we want to do in Wales is make inclusion an intended consequence not exclusion an unintended consequence of digital innovation in health care.”


Read more about the Digital Summit, including DHCW Chair Simon Jones's reflections on the day on our news pages.. 

eSummaries for GPs launches 


Electronic summaries for GPs - a function of Choose Pharmacy – are now live across Wales.


eSummaries allow community pharmacists in Wales to send summaries of a patient’s Choose Pharmacy consultation to the patient’s GP electronically, in a secure, confidential, rapid and traceable manner – making sure the GP is up-to-date with the patient’s treatment, advice and consultation outcomes in a community pharmacy setting.


Choose Pharmacy offers patients a range of defined NHS clinical services available at the community pharmacy, reducing demand on GPs and A&E and recognising the contribution pharmacists can make in improving the health and care of Welsh People.


The eSummary works with all relevant Choose Pharmacy digital modules - Common Ailments Service (CAS), Emergency Medicines Supply (EMS), Independent Prescriber Service (IPS) and Flu Vaccinations. This includes the Sore Throat Test and Treat module in CAS. It means that GPs receive a same day notification via eSummary when their patients are prescribed antibiotics as part of this service.


Choose Pharmacy integrates with the NHS Wales network, giving community pharmacists access to the medication details within the patient’s Welsh GP Record, helping them make informed decisions.

DHCW system used in Bowel Screening expansion 


The Bowel Screening Information Management System (BSIMS) developed and supported by Digital Health and Care Wales is being used in the expansion of the Bowel screening programme to people aged 55, 56 and 57.


The BSIMS is a secure web application that supports the whole screening process, by selecting people from the Welsh population for screening.


172,000 more people in Wales will start to receive easy to use kits that test for the early stages of bowel cancer, following the expansion of the home testing programme. The simple to use test kits are automatically posted to eligible people every two years. Participants provide a faeces sample at home and then send it back for analysis.


For the first time, from October, people aged 55, 56 and 57 will start to be invited for screening, as part of the expansion of the programme. The programme will be rolled out to the newly eligible age group gradually over the next 12 months. Evidence shows that screening people at a younger age enables more bowel cancers to be picked up at an earlier stage, when treatment is likely to be more effective and survival chances improved.


Find out more about Bowel Screening Wales on our webpages.

Microsoft Centre of Excellence create emergency operating model for 111 service

 


The new NHS Wales Microsoft Centre of Excellence (CoE) created an emergency operating model for NHS 111 Wales, after one of its supplier’s IT systems had to be shut down following a UK-wide cyber attack. 


The attack on supplier Advanced, in August 2022 resulted in the 111 service having to revert to a manual process to manage out-of-hours services. Call information had to be e-mailed to and between individual health boards, bringing significant additional administration work, and causing potential delays and clinical risk. 


The solution involved using components of the Microsoft 365 platform including SharePoint tracking list and Power Platform applications to provide a solid interim operating model. NHS Wales has invested in an all-Wales Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, along with the establishment of a national Microsoft 365 Centre of Excellence to provide for long-term sustainable support, development, and innovation. 


Read more on our DHCW website.

DHCW scrutiny session will shine a light on the importance of digital health in Wales


On Wednesday 26th October, a joint scrutiny session into Digital Health and Care Wales and digital transformation across NHS Wales will take place at the Senedd.  

 

Led by the Senedd Health and Social Committee and Public Administration and Public Accounts Committee, it will review DHCW’s first year of operation and its progress across a number of specific areas. These include the programme of work to deliver digital transformation across Wales, collaboration between health boards and partner organisations, workforce and capacity, and data transparency, accessibility and quality.  

 

The panel session follows a number of recommendations on the delivery of digital health and social care in Wales outlined in the Fifth Senedd Public Accounts Committee report, published in 2018. It will explore DHCW’s achievements over the last year, but will also focus on the barriers to digital transformation with a goal of identifying areas for improvements.


Read more about the session on our website 

Looked After Children Shortlisted for two HETT Awards


We’re pleased to announce that one of DHCW’s projects, Looked After Children (LAC), has been shortlisted in two categories of the HETT (Healthcare Excellence Through Technology)’s Unexpected Innovation Awards, an annual celebration of the very best in experimental design, collaboration, and leadership in digital healthcare in the UK. 


Looked After Children (LAC) is a national project sponsored by Welsh Government to develop a digital design that will underpin the clinical and care process for Looked After Children (LAC). It also aims to develop national information standards that will facilitate the sharing of information between practitioners and organisations.


The project is being run through the WCCIS (Welsh Community Care Information System) platform CareDirector as, although a system agnostic approach was undertaken, because 18 of the 29 health and social care organisations use CareDirector, there is an opportunity to build the data capture using a once for Wales approach. 


The project has been shortlisted in two HETT award categories:  


  • The ‘That Will Never Work Award’ - Most Creative and Disruptive Solution: this award recognises daring success stories in innovation, shining a light on the most creative and disruptive health tech solutions revolutionising patient care this past year, and 


  • The Best Integrated Care Collaboration: this award recognises the collaborative projects, directives, and initiatives that demonstrate the power that integrated care has to offer. 


The award winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on November 23. 


DHCW team shortlisted for Team of the Year award


 

The DHCW Service Management team have been announced as finalists in the team of the year category at the Professional Service Management Awards 2022.


The award is given to a team that have ‘supported their customers in providing inspirational service delivery and significant business benefit’.


Other finalists joining DHCW are the Department for Work and Pensions, Legal & General, Vodafone, Direct Line and BT Enterprise.


The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in November. DHCW scrutiny session will shine a light on the importance of digital health in Wales.


Learn more on the DHCW website.

DHCW appoints two new Independent Members to its board


Marilyn Bryan-Jones and Alistair Klaas Neill GM will take up positions as Independent Members (IMs) on the Digital Health and Care Wales’ board from September 2022.


Marilyn Bryan-Jones brings with her a wealth of experience in the private, public and third sectors, which includes roles as a trustee of a Regional Equality Council and in developing strategic partnerships for Cardiff Council Housing Strategy. She has expertise in supporting organisations in their diversity, equality and inclusion and is also an active member of the Caribbean Heritage Cymru Group.


Alistair Neill joins the organisation with more than 20 years of senior leadership experience in the public and private sectors at multinational level, including 18 years as a local authority chief executive. He is a Councillor for Monmouthshire County Council. He led the pandemic response in the West Midlands region until 2021.  


Read more on our webpages.

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