Performance Overview
Purpose of the Report: The performance report provides a summary of our key achievements, deliverables and challenges. It details how we have performed against our plans and Welsh Government targets with a focus on quality.
Our Vision
To provide world leading digital services, empowering people to live healthier lives.
Our Purpose
To make digital a force for good in health and care.
Who we are and what we do
Digital Health and Care Wales was established as a Special Health Authority on April 1st 2021, directed by Welsh Government to:
- Design, develop and deliver digital platforms, systems and services
- Support others in the design, development and delivery of digital platforms, systems and services
- Support the development and implementation of common standards for digital platforms, systems and services
- Advise and assist the Welsh Ministers in relation to the security of digital platforms, systems and services
- Support the development of the digital workforce
Our purpose is fulfilled through our missions and strategic objectives. Our vision will be realised through our strategic principles:
Putting people first.
Our services enable health and care staff to access the information they need to make decisions about health and care and to record the actions they have taken. We are embracing a user-centred design approach to develop digital applications with health and care staff, prioritising understanding how our systems will be used.
Simplifying everything we do.
To be able to do more, there is a requirement to be more productive as an organisation. This can be done through refining the way we work, focusing less on bespoke work and more on reusable components. Standards and rules have an important role to play too. Data standards help to simplify our products and services. Similarly, programme and portfolio management standards help to simplify the way we run our portfolios programmes and projects.
Designing for more data, more digital.
The NHS in Wales is at a turning point. The challenges we face are complex and ever-changing; improving health and reducing inequalities against a backdrop of the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and limited funding. But the opportunity to transform health and care is significant, and digital and data play a vital role in achieving this, but it comes at increased cost, so we are exploring ways to becoming more financially sustainable.
Finding more value.
We collaborate to deliver solutions to the problems that matter most to our partners and are implementing a robust benefits management framework. This helps improve efficiency, enhance experiences, and deliver greater value to staff, patients, and the public.
Learning from the past, embrace the future.
The pace of technological change is accelerating and we must adapt and flex our strategic direction accordingly. Our strategy provides the guardrails of our strategic direction, but it is not a rigid plan. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the changing landscape, and we will be prepared to adjust our plans as needed.
We are transforming our approach to designing and delivering digital products and services through the Building Our Future programme which is structured around the five strategic principles outlined above. Further information on this programme can be found under Mission 5 later in this report.
All of the above is underpinned by our values of collaboration, innovation, inclusion, excellence and compassion and underscored by our commitment to continuous improvement through the Duty of Quality enablers and domains.
Our Organisation
Digital Health and Care Wales is a Special Health Authority with a unique role in providing national digital, data and technology services to support health and care delivery in Wales.
More than half of our people are technical, including software engineers, data analysts and digital architects. Our IMTP Portfolios are a mixture of operations and new programmes/projects. 80% of our resources are committed to operational services. This split varies per Portfolio. Our work has demonstrable impact, as seen through the more than 100 operational services used daily by our partners.
One of the key challenges NHS Wales continues to face is fragmented health and care data. The Welsh Government recognises the need for better data use, however, a barrier to data sharing is a lack of data and technical standards.
Founded to support the delivery of digital health and social care through technology, data and standards, DHCW is establishing an open architecture via an all-Wales data platform. We work with NHS Wales colleagues and private sector partners to use interoperability standards to share data safely and securely.
We collect data from care events by building and buying the systems used in NHS Wales. Our role includes leading commercial, procurement, programme/project management and business change services to facilitate data collection. To ensure all data is structured and meaningful, we develop, support and promote the use of information standards.
Unless protected and stored in a stable environment, this data collection becomes counterproductive. That’s why we provide infrastructure for safe, secure data storage — including data centres, Cloud services and cyber security.
The National Data Resource and National Target Architecture will support the transformation of health and social care in Wales through connected and collaborative use of data. This is supported by our Information Governance Framework to enable data sharing and reduce siloed working.
This important work supports the Welsh Government’s goal of delivering seamless health and care services that offer fast, equitable access to care for all citizens.
Managed PC Support
Provide a fully managed PC support service to 17,000 users across NHS Wales including GP Practices and national organisations.
National Business Cases
Lead the development of national business cases including benefits frameworks for new national digital initiatives.
Microsoft 365 Management
Manage the Microsoft 365 tenancy for 120,000 users in NHS Wales.
Lead the professional development of the digital workforce for NHS Wales.
Strategic Advice
Advise Welsh Government and partner organisations on the strategic direction for digital health and care services. This includes supporting the findings of the 2024 Digital Governance review.
Showcase of Our Work
Watch a showcase of our work:DHCW – A showcase of our workIGDC – Arddangosiad o’n gwaith
Our Missions
The need for a digital and data revolution in the delivery of health and care has never been clearer. Achieving improved outcomes in safe and responsive health and care services are the goals we seek to achieve. Now, and in the future, digital and data are key enablers for this.
Our strategy is framed around the same five missions as our three-year Integrated Medium Term Plan and our annual Business Plan.
Our Missions bring together the portfolios of work and the enabling functions within our organisation. Four of the Missions centre on delivery, describing how the adoption and evolution of digital and data products drive better value and outcomes for health and care staff, patients and the public.
The fifth Mission centres on how we function, including our ability to operate within our allocated finances, to maintain an expert, motivated workforce and to meet our obligations on quality and safety, governance and sustainability.
01
Provide a Platform for Enabling Digital Transformation
- Move all our data stores and services to the NDR platform
- Redesign apps with secure, open architecture
- Extend data standards to social care and partners
- Establish all-Wales health and social care data sharing framework
- Move all live services to the cloud, close datacentres
Mission 1
02
Deliver High Quality Digital Products and Services
- Digitally enabled prescribing and medicines management
- Systems flow data via the NDR platform
- Unified all-Wales Electronic Health Record
- Unified all-Wales Electronic Social Care Record
Mission 2
03
Expand the Digital Health and Care Record
- Used across all settings in Wales
- NHS Wales App used by over a million people
- Top-quartile user satisfaction
Mission 3
04
Drive Better Value and Outcomes Through Innovation
- NDR Secure Data Environment for safe research access
- Data insights service with net benefit
- Deploy AI & automation for NHS Wales productivity
Mission 4
05
Be the Trusted Strategic Partner
- Academy for talent & leadership aligned to Capability Framework
- Long-term financial sustainability
- 34%+ lower carbon footprint, net-zero roadmap
- Partner-led prioritised programme pipeline
- Top quartile staff and stakeholder engagement
Mission 5
A synopsis of the performance analysis
With four years of operating as a Special Health Authority (SHA), DHCW continues to progress and develop our digital leadership role in cyber, information governance, data standards and the development of the digital and technology profession in NHS Wales.
With a workforce of 1,235 average whole time equivalent (WTE) in 2024-25 and total funding (revenue and capital) of £196.48m we work with more than 100 resilient digital services, technologies, and information.
We have achieved 90% of our Annual Business Plan this year and our Incident Review and Learning Group continues to assess opportunities for learning from areas such as programmes, audit and incidents. Learning is assessed through the Contributory Factors Framework and embedded through a process of continuous improvement aligned to the Duty of Quality. Through our Building Our Future programme we have also developed an organisation-wide approach to quality improvement.
DHCW’s accountability conditions, set by the Welsh Government, focus on key areas of the organisation and are often aligned with the Cabinet priorities at that time. A total of 17 accountability conditions were set for DHCW for the financial year 2024/25. These related to the delivery of national programmes and stakeholder management. By the end of the financial year, all accountability conditions had been completed or delivered, however, our escalation status was raised in March 2025 to level 3 (enhanced monitoring) for delivery of major programmes.
Mission 1
Mission 2
Mission 3
Mission 4
Mission 5
Our year in numbers and value
2,700+ Cyber Threats Deflected
DHCW total funding 196.48 Broken down by Core Business (~80%), programmes (~20%)
360,000+ NHS Wales App User Downloads
1.4 million Number of GP prescription items claimed via EPS
M365 Use of licence 136,195 User accounts 6.8% rise since 2023
Over 450k Consultations for common ailments with Choose Pharmacy
GP Electronic Referrals - Test results Images and Care documents are viewed across health board boundaries (don’t have to be repeated or requested.