March 2015

Ł6.2m boost for Betsi Cadwaladr IT

New WG investment will help make Myrddin available and improve Welsh Clinical Portal access

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething has announced a Ł6.245m investment from Welsh Government to upgrade IT services at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

The investment will be used in part to roll out the National Patient Administration System (Myrddin) and improve clinical communication between hospitals, GP surgeries and community care. It will also improve access to the Welsh Clinical Portal, which streamlines access for NHS staff to test results, discharge letters and referrals, saving time and reducing the need for paper records.

"This investment," Mr Gething said, "will create a modern IT system, making it easier for clinical and administrative staff to work effectively and reduce unnecessary time spent on several different systems. It will improve the way staff manage information during a patient's journey through hospital, from referral to discharge."

"Hospitals in North Wales received 1.27 million patient visits last year and it's vital computer technology is able to keep pace and help staff to work effectively as they treat more people than ever," Gething added.

Email upgrades provide stability for junior docs

Location changes won't wipe mailboxes

E-mail services available to junior doctors have been improved.

New upgrades to the service mean that when doctors use their 'wales.nhs.uk' e-mail accounts throughout their training period in NHS Wales, their mailbox and address will remain the same.

The new and improved service means an end to the problem of junior doctors' mailboxes being wiped clean every time they work at different locations within NHS Wales. The 'wales.nhs.uk' accounts for junior doctors will also have a much bigger capacity, with a new limit of 2GB and are now being hosted by the NHS Wales Informatics Service.

Other bonuses junior doctors can enjoy is a built-in archive with an unlimited storage capacity, which automatically archives items in the mailbox after six months, helping to keep the e-mails tidy and manageable.

New crop of informatics apprentices begin work

Scheme follows on heels of last year's successful training

Seven new apprentices are now launching their careers through the NHS Wales Informatics Service career pathways programme which aims to educate and develop informatics staff in NHS Wales.

This is the second team of apprentices, the first seven having successfully achieved their apprenticeship qualifications last summer with most gaining employment within NHS Wales.

The eighteen month scheme will train apprentices in becoming health information and technology professionals.

"It is a step in the right direction and something you can take the experience from for the rest of your life," says Scott Newton, NHS Wales Informatics Service's new Business Administration Apprentice.

Powys IT Apprentice Ryan Hewson, who completed his AS levels in 2014, says the scheme is "life-changing and provides an opportunity to further develop your skills."

The apprenticeship scheme is part of an initiative by NHS Wales Informatics Service to make it easier and more attractive for people to join the challenging field of informatics.

Informatics in Words

Straight-forward

"When we first looked into it (My Health Online), we had a lot of questions. Would it be easy to manage? How easy is it to troubleshoot in house? How easy is it for the receptionist to field questions? And for the dispensary, how easy is the messaging system for them? It was a learning curve, but we got over that quite quickly and now it's absolutely fine. Everyone's settled into it. And it's pretty straight-forward to use."

Wye Valley Practice's Practice Manager Viv Kent talking about My Health Online.

Informatics @ Events

C'mon, Get Coding

BCSWomen is looking to encourage and spotlight careers in IT, especially to women, by attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest number of people learning to write Android smartphone applications at the same time.

BCSWomen is getting together with various universities, organisations, companies and local BCS branches to get as many people as possible coding an app on 13th June in an effort to demonstrate to young girls and women that IT can be a fun and interesting career.

The event will be open to all.

Besides looking for people wanting to take part in the event, BCSWomen is looking for female trainers to help monitor and guide participants.

If you are interested in volunteering or being a part of the world record attempt, head to the BCS App-a-thon - Guinness World Records Challenge website or write to the NHS Wales Informatics Service Professional Development Officer, Julia Denyer.

Informatics in Numbers

9001 & 14001 & 27001

They're more than just certificates on a wall.

Internationally-accepted recognition achieved through obtaining certification from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) provides assurance to the public, patients, stakeholders and everyone involved in how NHS Wales Informatics Service operates, that we take the businessof developing and supporting high quality IT systems and services seriously.

It ensures all possible steps are taken to deliver services professionally and securely.

Over the years, we have achieved (and maintained) the following ISO certificates that show we meet or exceed internationally-approved standards:

ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems
ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems
ISO 27001:2005 Information Security Management Systems

The way we manage our services is being externally audited this summer in a bid to gain the ISO 20000 certificate for IT Service Management.

The auditors will check we have all the policies and processes in place to maintain a high quality of support, delivery and management of our IT services, and that we have supporting documentation to show that we use these processes.

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