ALP 2024 Awards Ceremony Highlights Collaborative Innovation

The Analytics Learning Programme (ALP) had its annual awards ceremony celebrating the success of its collaborative analytics projects on October 2, 2024. The hybrid event brought together data professionals from across Wales to present solutions and compete for top honours.

Six teams, with members from Digital Health and Care Wales, NHS Wales, Public Health Wales, Social Care Wales, National Collaborative Commissioning Unit (NCCU), Welsh Health Boards, local authorities and more. Each presented their projects, ranging from visualising adult ADHD services to analysing A&E wait times. The projects leveraged the National Data Resource's (NDR) Google Cloud Platform (GCP), demonstrating its potential for transforming data-driven insights in health and social care across Wales.

A panel of judges; Rebecca Cook, Chief Data Office at, DHCW; Chris Habberley, Senior Project Manager for Advanced Analytics in the NDR, DHCW; Gareth John, Head of Information Delivery; Jessica Pang, Advanced Improvement Analyst; and Kate MacKenzie, AD for Data and Insight, evaluated the projects based on: User focus, innovation, collaboration, application and storytelling.

Feedback was provided to each team on the day, offering valuable insights for future development.

Chris Habberley said:

This year, in ALP 2024, is the first time we've tried to connect participants with the Google Cloud Platform. It's been great to see the challenges and benefits discovered by the teams, and I really appreciate the lessons we've learned from you [the teams] and your hard work.

He encouraged participants to continue exploring the potential of NDR services for future collaborative projects.

In a poll during the event, over 87% of participants reported feeling more confident in their data professional skills. The competition was fierce, with Team Tempus Triage emerging as the winner for their A&E Analysis of 4,8 and 12-hour Wait Times Wait Times project. The RaSCals team received a special judges' award for their outstanding work with their Right Sizing Community Services project.

Chris O’Connor, Advanced Analytics Specialist within NDR’s Advanced Analytics team, who led ALP 2024, along with Programme Support Officer Ani Morgan, said:

This year's Collaboration Projects have showcased the incredible talent and creativity of our participants. We are excited to see how these projects will contribute to improving healthcare and social care in Wales.

The ALP collaboration projects are a valuable opportunity for data professionals to collaborate, learn, and develop innovative solutions. As the NDR continues to expand its capabilities, we can expect to see even more ground-breaking projects emerge in the future.

Looking Ahead

The ALP 2025 cohort will begin in March 2025.

Submit an expression of interest form to take part in ALP 2025.

An information session will be held on October 31 to provide more details and allow potential participants to register.

Become a Trainer: We are also seeking trainers for ALP 2025. If you are interested in becoming a trainer, please email ndrskills@wales.nhs.uk.

Use Cases: Additionally, we are inviting individuals or organisations with relevant use cases or projects to share them with us. For queries relating to this, please email ndrskills@wales.nhs.uk.

For more information or any queries about the programme, please email ndrskills@wales.nhs.uk.