The Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR) is set to include inpatient paediatric notes as part of its third phase.
Following the launch of the WNCR in April 2021, children’s documentation is to go digital with £1.8m funding support from the Welsh Government’s Digital Priorities Investment Fund.
Phase one and two of the project focused on adult inpatient wards at acute and community hospitals, with traditional paper notes replaced with a digital system to update the way nurses record, store and access information. The system aims to reduce duplication, free up nurse time and supply nurses with accurate, up-to-date digital notes to support them in making informed decisions about a patient’s care regardless of setting.
Sian Thomas, senior responsible owner for the WNCR, says: “The extension of the digitalisation of Nursing Documentation Project to paediatrics (inpatients) is a vital addition to the digital programme to ensure that the patient’s journey through our health systems can be monitored and duplication can be minimised.”
Chief nursing officer for Wales, Sue Tranka, adds: “It is fantastic the digital system is now being rolled out to paediatric patients, establishing consistency where appropriate is really important from a quality and safety perspective. Moving to a digital system is already proving to have real benefits for nurses by avoiding work being duplicated and allowing them to spend more time caring for patients.”
Digital Health and Care Wales is now engaging with paediatric clinical teams across the country, ahead of site visits in coming months, and clinical nurse specialists and product specialists are currently being recruited into health boards.
The WNCR is now in use at all seven health boards across Wales and Velindre Trust, with more than 3.9 million patient notes captured to date and over 86,000 inpatients digitally assessed.
