A system for creating and scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments has been developed by NHS Wales Informatics Service.
The Welsh Immunisation System (WIS), which is an in-house development, is supporting the roll out of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (and others as they become available) across health boards.
The system uses information on patient demographics, occupation groups and agreed priority levels for receiving the vaccination, to allow healthcare professionals to schedule appointments for patients. It will create appointment slots, send out appointment letters and record details about each vaccination for every COVID-19 vaccine administered in Wales.
As the vaccine consists of a two-dose schedule with four weeks between doses to achieve the maximum level of immunisation, the system can automatically schedule follow-up appointments for each patient to receive their second dose.
Alison Maguire, Programme Lead for the Welsh Immunisation System at NHS Wales Informatics Service, said: “This national system has been created in-house at NWIS in partnership with our colleagues across NHS Wales and the Welsh Government. It will mean we can safely and securely schedule and record all COVID-19 vaccinations, wherever in Wales they are administered.
“By processing this information digitally and within one system, vaccinations can be delivered as efficiently as possible for priority patients and occupation groups.”
Gill Davison, Application Development Manager for the WIS system said: “The WIS development has been a great team effort across NHS Wales, building on our 20 years of experience in delivering immunisation systems for the citizens of Wales.“
The Welsh Immunisation System was ready for service on 2nd December and will be rolled out in Wales as part of the UK Government strategy for all UK nations.
First published: 08/12/20