 |
£13 million technology investment for NHS Wales' intensive care patients
Hospitals in Wales are to benefit from a new high-tech digital-monitoring system for seriously ill people in intensive care units.
Following a pledge by Minister for Health and Social Services Vaughan Gething to accelerate digital improvements for critical care, the NHS Wales Informatics Service has signed a £13 million contract with the supplier ASCOM.
The seven-year agreement for ASCOM's Digistat software delivers a managed service and providesa technical platform to develop the all-Wales Intensive Care Information System.
Funding is provided by Welsh Government, Health Boards and the Critical Care Trauma Network.
Digital innovation will transform critical care by automating the collection of data from the sophisticated monitors and devices used to support patients with life-threatening illness or injuries.
With increasing pressure on intensive care services, reducing the administrative burden on NHS Wales staff will free-up more time for patient care. More than 10,000 people are admitted for critical care in Welsh hospitals each year.
At present staff at Wales' 14 Intensive Care Units, with a total of 198 beds, are mainly required to complete extensive paper charts to record vital life-signs.
Automation will make real-time information available across a range of devices, forming part of the patient's digital patient record, streamlining care processes. Integration with NHS Wales systems will enable intensive care staff to:
-
Record patient assessments electronically
-
Manage prescriptions and drug administration at the bedside
-
Connect with bedside equipment to record vital signs and fluid balance
-
Calculate a patient's acuity scores
-
Better manage infection control
-
Manage daily care plans
-
Create reports on results and department objectives
-
Support national audit and research needs
Information will also be collated in a dynamic database, which can also be used to benchmark against other healthcare systems and provide a platform for research and potential implementation of artificial intelligence-driven improvements in daily care.
Mr Gething said: "Our Welsh intensive care services deliver extraordinary services helping people when they are critically ill.The introduction of this innovative technology will enhance the care patients receive and allow doctors and nurses to spend as much time as possible caring for patients. The use of technology to deliver a sustainable NHS is a key part of A Healthier Wales, our long-term strategy for health and social care in Wales."
Professor Tamas Szakmany,national clinical leadand consultant at The Royal Gwent Hospital, said: "The new system will make the life of frontline critical care staff easier by cutting waste, duplication and potential for error. It will enable us to work seamlessly across organisational boundaries, to share good practice and to rapidly implement change driven by evidence."
Geraint Walker, national nursing lead and staff nurse at Morriston Hospital, said: "It will enable us as nurses to manage patient care more efficiently and will in turn help us enhance the care we deliver."
Helen Thomas, interim Director NHS Wales Informatics Service, commented: "We are very pleased to collaborate on the delivery and implementation of this new exciting system, which will help to strengthen intensive care provision in Wales."
The new Grange University Hospital, which will serve the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area, will be the first to adopt the new system in summer 2021. Planned roll out will then follow to all NHS Wales intensive care units.
|
Farewell to Wendy Dearing, Head of Workforce
Congratulations to Professor Wendy Dearing, on her appointment as the new Head of the Institute of Management and Health at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Wendy is currently Head of Workforce & Organisational Development at NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS), a position she has held for eight years.
She was instrumental in developing the Wales Institute of Digital Information (WIDI) a strategic partnership between NWIS and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. As co-lead for WIDI she created and implemented the Health informatics Apprenticeships qualifications that includes level 3, 4 and ICT degree apprenticeships as well as creating opportunities for NWIS staff to undertake CPD via UWTSD linking industry and academia. She has played a key role within NHS Wales in developing Health Informatics
|
|
Digital consultation summaries for community pharmacies to GPs now live across Wales
The Choose Pharmacy application provides community pharmacists with access to a secure web-based portal that enables them to electronically record a range of consultations for enhanced services within the pharmacy.
Currently all service modules in the Choose Pharmacy application, except for Emergency Contraception (EC), include functionality to generate consultation summaries. These summaries used to be sent to the GP practice in paper form to ensure all relevant clinical information was communicated to the patient's GP. Enabling the eSummaries functionality means the consultation summary can now be sent to GPs via the Welsh Clinical Communications Gateway (WCCG).
Sending Choose Pharmacy patient consultation information digitally to GPs is more secure, confidential, rapid, and traceable than the previous paper-based process. The national rollout of eSummaries from the CAS module was completed at the end of May this year and all GPs across Wales are now receiving consultation summaries electronically.
Since full rollout at the end of May, 20,794 electronic consultation summaries have been sent from the Choose Pharmacy application to the patient's GP practice via WCCG, with over 99% of these eSummaries being processed by GP practices to date.
The service will continue to be monitored and supported by NWIS and it is hoped the functionality will be extended to other Choose Pharmacy services before the end of the year.
|
Community pharmacies in Wales to get Microsoft 365
The deployment of Microsoft 365, including aspects of Microsoft Teams, has begun in pharmacies across Wales.
This follows an announcement by Vaughan Gething, Minister for Health and Social Services, of an additional £18.3m funding for pharmacies in Wales, recognising the vital role community pharmacies play in our communities.
3,000 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are being provided with access to NHS email, instant messaging and some features of Microsoft Teams available through Microsoft 365.
|
NWIS shortlisted for three BCS IT industry Awards
We are delighted to announce that NWIS has been shortlisted for three British Computer Society (BCS) UK IT Industry Awards.
The BCS award ceremony, which will take place as a virtual event in September this year, is the most significant annual recognition of excellence in the technology sector.
Our interim director, Helen Thomas, said: "We are delighted to have been shortlisted as a finalist in three categories at this year's UK IT Awards. It recognises not only the incredible hard work of all our staff providing excellent digital services to NHS Wales, but also that this is a fantastic place to work."
For more information on the categories and finalists, click here.
Nursing documentation project shortlisted for Nursing Times award
|
"It's given me confidence in my ability, and within the organisation" Ben, one of our apprentices tells us about life working from home.
We recently managed to catch up with Ben Atkins, who we last spoke to in January 2019 on life working for NWIS whilst studying for his digital degree. Ben has since then changed roles and moved up within our organisation, as well as adapted to life working and learning from home. Watch his video interview below where he tells us how he has personally supported NWIS during the pandemic.
|
| | WIDI student spotlight: Ben updates us on life working from home & studying for his digital degree |
|
|
|
|
|
|
