Nursing records to go digital as part of a new national system to improve patient experience and care
14/02/2022
Nurses from across North Wales’ acute and community hospitals are joining the new digital system Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR) that will help follow a patient through their healthcare journey.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) is joining other health boards in implementing the WNCR system, developed by Digital Health and Care Wales, which has transformed nursing documentation by standardising forms, and turning them digital.
Nurses will see new formats available in both paper and digital for documents including risk assessments and adult inpatient assessments. The digital versions of the forms mean nurses will be able to complete assessments, including at the patient bedside, on a hand-held tablet device.
Jane Brady, Senior Lead Nursing Informatics Specialist, at BCUHB, said: “This is a very exciting time for nurses in BCUHB, in the move to using a digital system to input nursing care for the patient. This is a big change for our health board and our nurses are very excited to start doing their paperwork digitally. We will also be looking at our nurses’ digital skills and we will help build their confidence with the technology.
“I am extremely proud to be part of this amazing transformational new system for nurses across Wales.”
The new digital documents will help nurses follow a patient through their healthcare journey, using the same standardised nursing language to reduce duplication and improve patient experience and care, by giving nurses more time to spend with patients and have quicker access to their patient’s health records.
The digitised records will start to be rolled out across BCUHB this Spring, starting first in Flintshire and Wrexham.
The team behind the WNCR won the award Best Healthcare IT Project at the British Computing Society’s UK IT Industry Awards in November 2021, which was praised by Wales’ Health Minister, Eluned Morgan.
She said: "The Welsh Nursing Care Record is digitising nursing notes so nurses have more time to spend with patients and have access to more information. This is a great success for the team who've worked hard to roll this out across NHS Wales."