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NHS Wales Informatics Service is continuing to support NHS Wales in delivering essential services to patients and the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

There are several key actions that the organisation is taking, including:
  • Increasing the bandwidth of key technology to enable more clinical, technical and supporting staff to work remotely
     
  • Supporting the delivery of new ways of working for primary care such as video consultations and access to technology through personal devices 
     
  • Supporting local uptake of the cloud services that NHS Wales has invested in, including Microsoft Office 365
     
  • Supporting the collection, linking and sharing of health data to support operational services and Welsh Government in their emergency response planning
     
  • Keeping critical services in a 'business as usual' state 
     
  • Following Public Health Wales and Welsh Government guidelines on ensuring the safety and well-being of our workforce.
The NWIS website now hosts information on ways of working, digital support and practical advice for NHS Wales professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Digital services for GPs during COVID-19

There are several ways that IT can help GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. For information on how we are providing additional services  see our website .

Some of the initiatives underway are:                       
 
Video Consultations - Attend Anywhere
Plans are underway to provide video consultations to all GP practices at the earliest opportunity. The NWIS Primary Care Services team are involved in the implementation of the Attend Anywhere product which is being led by TEC Cymru.

GP Remote Working
Allowing GPs to access systems remotely. Information on this is available on our website.

GP Remote Access Tokens
'Soft tokens' are being issued to those who do not  have access to a Secure ID token. S oft tokens require a mobile app to be installed on the recipient's smartphone  and are quick and easy to deploy.  You can find out how to apply for one on the website

My Health Text
Welsh Government has agreed to fund additional messages to help practices communicate with patients. An extra 2 text messages per patient (according to practice list size) will be deployed, in addition to the annual practice allocation. 

Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP) View Access for GPs
The WCP  will give GPs access to important patient  information held in the secondary care record. It gives access to discharge summaries, test results and clinical letters from every hospital in Wales, including radiology reports. See our website for more info.

We are also supporting GP Locums to work during this time, click here for further information.
COVID-19 data collection and dashboard
 
We are working on several initiatives to capture, collect and analyse data that will inform national planning and operational delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. This data will be shared with Public Health Wales and the Welsh Government and NHS Organisations.
 
This includes data to support escalation and management of the COVID-19 situation, and identification of vulnerable groups, as well as 111 and Welsh Ambulance data to provide intelligence into the emerging situation.
 
We are also working on a web-based dashboard to make it easier for health boards to access COVID-19 related data.
NHS Wales develops IT system for COVID-19 testing
 
NHS Wales Informatics Service has created an electronic test requesting system for use in community test units across Wales.

It will mean the test results of patients who are tested for COVID-19 can be stored digitally on the Welsh Clinical Portal and added to a central database.

The system will help to speed up the requesting process in laboratories and will allow for a greater number of samples to be booked in and accurately labelled.

The digital record of every patient in Wales who is registered with a GP practice can be accessed on the system, so testing will not be restricted to an individual's health board or local authority.

The system also allows clinicians and data analysts to differentiate which COVID-19 tests were requested in community settings and which have been carried out in hospitals for inpatients. This will provide a clearer picture of how the outbreak is being managed across Wales.

Test results will be accessible to healthcare professionals via the Welsh Clinical Portal and the WCP Mobile App, which means clinicians will be able to access their patients' results while on-the-go or at the bedside.
Video and new online services for outpatient clinics
 
We are taking forward video conferencing for the 1200 outpatients' clinics that take place on an average day in Wales, alongside essential new features in the Welsh Clinical Portal to support the virtual consultation.

Many clinicians have already used telephone consultations successfully, supported by access to the patient's health record through the Welsh Clinical Portal. This allows clinicians to view patient details from any location - clinic, office or home, making remote consultation possible. 

To support virtual appointments a new digital 'outpatient continuation sheet' will allow the clinician to record the appointment outcome online, without needing to use a paper form.
We teamed up with health boards to 'fast-track' this new feature, which will be ready for User Acceptance Testing in early April.
 
It means that the consultant will be able to use the Welsh Clinical Portal, wherever they are, to access their clinic list, review the patient record , record the details of the consultation and capture the decision, supporting the complete virtual outpatient appointment.
 
A report will be generated to enable health records staff to track the patient and retrospectively update the Patient Administration System to ensure that the patient pathway is kept up date.
 
To support the ongoing management of patients during these extraordinary times, we are also working closely with health boards and clinicians to explore ways in which consultants can view their 'Follow up Not Booked List' in the Welsh Clinical Portal.  Enabling this access and visibility will help clinicians make an informed decision about the patients that need to be seen urgently and those that can be re-scheduled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

We were contacted this week by Rebecca who wanted to tell us how an important outpatient appointment went ahead - thanks to digital services.

Rebecca has a chronic condition and the appointment with her gastroenterology specialist at University Hospital Wales was critical to her ongoing care and well-being.
As the consultant was self-isolating at home, Rebecca was offered a remote telephone consultation.

She said: "My consultant was able to use the Welsh Clinical Portal from home to access my details and test results. The appointment was just as useful as a face to face appointment and far less stressful. It made such a difference!

"The work you are doing to make digital services available for health and care is fantastic. You are doing such worthwhile stuff, which is really coming together now. Thank you."


NHS Wales e-Library holds key information on COVID-19
 
The NHS Wales e-Library is supporting healthcare professionals by  providing access to digital information on COVID-19.

The e-Library's newly developed  website hosts a vast array of links from their publishers and suppliers such as NHS Wales, Welsh Government and Royal Colleges and Societies to provide support and guidance to those working for NHS Wales that can all be accessed remotely. 

The latest updates from Public Health Wales can be found on its website, as well as evidence summaries on best practice and papers from credible sources. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has given access to  e-learning modules on coronavirus, and you can also listen to their podcast ' Talk Evidence' which discusses building an evidence base for COVID-19.

Users can gain instant access to linked articles if accessing from an NHS Wales networked device, or their  NHS Wales OpenAthens account. If you need to access an article outside of the NHS Wales network, then please  click here.


A message from Helen Thomas, Interim Director NHS Wales Informatics Service

As the impact of COVID-19 increases I want to thank everyone working in NHS Wales for their dedication and care in response to this global pandemic.

The next few weeks will no doubt bring many challenges and place increasing pressure on our hospitals and GP practices.

As a digital organisation we will be doing all we can to support healthcare professionals during this demanding period.

In response to the situation, we are supporting the increased use of mobile messaging and remote working and have issued guidance on how new mobile tools can be used to support individual care and make it easier for GPs to use video conferencing for patient consultations.

And we have accelerated roll out of the Welsh Clinical Portal in primary care, so all GPs can see the digital patient record. We have also increased the capacity of the internet 'pipe' into NHS Wales.

We will be using our website to post the latest updates on the work we are doing to support health professionals as they deal with COVID-19 along with a number of FAQs.

As the health and well-being of our staff is of utmost importance, we have made some changes to the way we work that will allow us to continue providing the digital support services needed by our colleagues delivering health and care in Wales.

These are challenging and exceptional times for all and the NHS Wales Informatics Service will do all it can to support services and staff as they deal with the impact of COVID-19.