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Market announcement: new partner to help drive the NHS Wales Digital transformation programme

12 November 2021

The Digital Services for Patients and the Public (DSPP) programme was set up by the Welsh Government to help co-ordinate the rapid delivery of digital solutions and health and care applications for people of Wales. The programme is run by Digital Health & Care Wales.

A procurement exercise for the appointment of a technology development partner has been completed this week with the contracts awarded to Kainos Group. Kainos will set up the technology required to support delivery of our digital transformation vision, including the development of the NHS Wales App. The NHS Wales App will be a healthcare application empowering people in Wales to play an active role in managing their health and care, through their tablets and smartphones.    

Kainos’ appointment signals the beginning of a delivery programme which will support the development of the next generation of health and care digital services in Wales.  The programme will allow current and future health and care applications to work together and use joined-up, safe and secure underpinning services to deliver their functionality.

Ifan Evans, Director, Technology, Digital and Transformation for the Welsh Government and DSPP programme sponsor with the Welsh Government said: “This programme will help us unlock the potential for digital services to empower citizens to take a more active role in their health and care.  

“Since the start of the pandemic the use of health technology has accelerated. Delivery of this programme is the next step in making health and care services more accessible through our phones and tablets.  At the end of this programme, people living in Wales will be able to manage personal health and care data in a way that is intuitive and efficient, whether its recording personal care data, accessing video consultations, viewing and managing care plans or providing feedback to their carers.”

Huw George, Deputy CEO and Executive Director for Operations and Finance at Public Health Wales said: “the programme has been designed to tap into the vast commercial expertise and opportunities represented by the health and care digital services market place.  We don’t want to reinvent the wheel, we want to build on the existing commercial expertise in a way that is secure and scalable.  Most of all, digital services need to be presented to the people of Wales in a way that is safe, clearly explained and easy to understand and use.

Dr Sally Lewis, National Clinical lead for Value based Healthcare said: “We have recently seen how technology can be hugely beneficial for patients. This programme will allow us to co-ordinate  the delivery of existing digital initiatives such as remote clinical consultations, in addition to the development of new applications where these are needed. This is an exciting and ambitious programme that will help us give people in Wales the most up to date digital tools and better use of their personal health data.

“The potential is huge and it will give the people of Wales a modern way to interact with health services, similar to online banking and travel services.”