Digital Health and Care Wales has officially launched and has been created to take forward a digital transformation programme providing the national technology and data services needed by patients and clinicians.

Operating as a Special Health Authority with an independent Chair and Board, it replaces the NHS Wales Informatics Service, reflecting the importance of digital and data in modern health and care.

A Healthier Wales, the Welsh Government’s plan for health and care, identifies the development of digital services as key to delivering services fit for the future.

Newly appointed CEO, Helen Thomas, spoke to Business News Wales about the vision of delivering this future. One of the key goals is to develop this new organisation and to build upon the great work that has gone before. Another key area of importance is to address the digital health record process in Wales. Helen discusses how Digital Health and Care Wales want to ensure that access to records can be available to all medical professionals so that this information can be used accordingly. The focus on data is an important one, and Helen describes having this focus will help deliver more informed decisions that will ultimately provide better outcomes for the people pf Wales.

Digital services across the NHS have developed tremendously during the past year as a response to the pandemic, and this discussion highlights the further transformation that can now be built upon to enable continued development. The key, Helen highlights, is continuing to embrace the technologies that have already had such a positive impact, and it is now about making those changes stick.

The patient is at the heart of everything for Digital Health and Care Wales. What is also at the core of this organisation are the people that work with in it. Having been previously recognised as one the best places to work within IT, Helen is keen to continue to grow the team and to create an environment for people to develop their own skills and become a part of a team that is already so passionate about what they do.

Please click below to listen to the interview with Helen Thomas, CEO for Digital Health and Care Wales.