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August 2019
Welsh Clinical Portal: The future is mobile 
 
Doctors at two Welsh health boards are trialling a new, mobile version of the Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP).

The Welsh Clinical Portal App is an innovative development from the NHS Wales Informatics Service helping the medical workforce go about their daily tasks more effectively.

Health professionals across Wales can already view clinical documents and test results electronically in hospitals via the WCP. The system provides access to patient information from many sources, creating a digital patient record.

The launch of the app version means clinicians will be able to access information about their patients while on-the-go and at the bedside from a mobile phone.

Key features available include two-factor authorisation to ensure secure access, patient watch list creation, results notifications for users and patient 'to do' lists to support unified care.

"Currently, this is a proof of concept trial limited to a small number of users in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Betsi Cadwaladr University health boards," says  Katherine Lewis, WCP National Project Manager. "Some are using their own smartphones, while others are using NHS Wales' devices."

"Feedback has been positive and we are listening to the needs of the clinicians we are working with," she adds. "As a result of this, we have built 'speciality fields' into the next version of the app and a number of features have been enhanced. Evaluation from this trial is critical to the next phases of development."

The Portal currently hosts over 18 million care documents spanning GP referrals, emergency department attendances, outpatient clinics, operation notes and investigation reports as well as over 108 million pathology test results.

The latest update to the desktop version will include hospital to hospital referrals, which means users have access to more detailed information about the patient journey across hospitals and health boards.
Cancer care records available to view in the Welsh Clinical Portal
 
Health care professionals  across Wales can now access cancer patient information through the Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP). Previously, this information was only available to Cancer Network Information System Cymru (CaNISC) users. 

CaNISC is being phased out due to the age of its software. 

The Case Note Summary from CaNISC now includes multidisciplinary team diagnosis, proposed treatments, and a system-generated summary of the patient's cancer record.  Accessing it through the WCP means that if the patient visits a healthcare environment where CaNISC is not available, the patient's information would still be accessible. 
 
In the first six days after its go-live, nearly a thousand users accessed the CaNISC Case Note Summary in Welsh Clinical Portal. 84% of those users did not have access to CaNISC, demonstrating that the national IT programme is meeting users' needs.

The CaNISC Case Note Summary  adds to the already extensive patient information available to view in Welsh Clinical Portal including over 170 million tests results and over 17 million care documents plus access to the full GP summary record for 3.1 million citizens in Wales.

"This is a really important development, not just for the services within Velindre that rely on secure access to clinical information to support direct care but also for those services offering regional tertiary care that crosses organisational boundaries. 

The South East Wales Upper GI team has already seen the benefits of this development with previous diagnostic information, MDT discussions and treatment received being available to service providers across the whole patient pathway."

Prof. Tom Crosby OBE
Consultant Oncologist and  National Cancer Clinical Director for Wales


Celebrating a digital workforce partnership 
 
Our work to develop a digital workforce in partnership with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) has been celebrated by the UK National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB). 

In its sixth annual assessment of the achievement of partnerships , the NCUB describes the NWIS partnership with Trinity Saint David as a "positive model for the rest of the UK NHS."
 
Formally launched in 2017, the partnership - known as the Wales Institute of Digital Information (WIDI) - has developed four part-time BSc (Hons) degrees in Data & Information Systems, Business and Information Systems, Computer Networks & Cyber Security, and Software Engineering. All learning streams are accredited by the British Computer Society giving graduates Chartered IT Professional (CITP) status. Additionally, the software engineering programmes gained partial Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.   
 
"The relationship is becoming an organic process with new benefits emerging on a weekly basis," says  Professor Wendy Dearing, NWIS Head of Workforce & Organisational Development and UWTSD Professor of Practice. "Masterclasses have been delivered by NWIS staff for UWTSD students and degree apprentices, and in return UWTSD academics have delivered short, specific development programmes for NWIS staff."

UK Health Camp comes to Wales 
 
The Office for National Statistics in Newport is hosting this year's UK Health Camp - a health and care themed 'unconference' that aims to improve health and care services using technology, design, and innovative ideas.

The event is on Saturday 14th September. It is the first time that the event is coming to Wales.  

The event is free to attend and open to all - bringing together health and care professionals, policy makers, service managers, designers, digital specialists, as well as patients and carers.

UK Health Camp is a healthcare-themed 'unconference.' For those not familiar with the 'unconference' style, it is an event in which the agenda is built on the day by attendees, and sessions tend to be a conversation rather than a presentation.
  
"I've attended all the previous UK Health Camps and I'm really proud to be helping to organise this one in Wales for the first time," says Anne Marie Cunningham, NWIS Associate Medical Director of Primary Care. "It's a great opportunity to talk to people from across the UK about what we are doing here. These are really exciting events where there is tremendous energy about the possibilities for us to do things better through working together. "

For more information or to get tickets to the event, visit: ukhealthcamp.com.