National system introduced in Wales to support COVID-19 vaccine roll out

A new system developed by NHS Wales Informatics Service for creating and scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments has been launched.

The Welsh Immunisation System, is an in-house development, to support the roll out of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and others as they become available.

The system is being used across all Health Boards, and uses information on patient demographics, occupation groups and agreed priority levels for receiving the vaccination, to allow healthcare professionals to schedule appointments for patients. This includes sending appointment letters and recording details about each vaccination for every COVID-19 vaccine administered in Wales.

The system also automatically schedules the appointment to deliver a second-dose for each patient.

Alison Maguire, Programme Lead for the Welsh Immunisation System at NHS Wales Informatics Service, said: “This national system has been created in-house at NWIS in partnership with our colleagues across NHS Wales and the Welsh Government. It will mean we can safely and securely schedule and record all COVID-19 vaccinations, wherever in Wales they are administered.”

“By processing this information digitally and within one system, vaccinations can be delivered as efficiently as possible for priority patients and occupation groups.”

Gill Davison, Application Development Manager for the WIS system said: “The WIS development has been a great team effort across NHS Wales, building on our 20 years of experience in delivering immunisation systems for the citizens of Wales.”

The informatics service has also recently introduced a new advice and guidance app for GPs and GP practice staff in Wales to connect them with specialist healthcare professionals when advice about complex patient care is needed.