Current Landscape and Challenges
NHS Wales stands at a pivotal moment in its digital transformation journey. While the ambition for a connected, data-driven health and care system is clear, the path to achieving it is still emerging. Most Welsh health boards remain dependent on paper-based systems or fragmented digital tools, creating barriers to interoperability, data sharing, and clinical efficiency.
Unlike other parts of the UK, where regional and national programmes have begun to take hold, Wales must now confront a critical strategic decision: should the country adopt a single, unified Electronic Patient Record (EPR) solution, or empower regional and local initiatives tailored to specific needs and contexts?
The complexity of NHS Wales’ structure—featuring distinct health boards with varying levels of digital maturity—makes this question more urgent and nuanced. The wrong approach risks wasted investment, prolonged implementation, and minimal impact on patient outcomes. The right one could unlock transformative improvements in care coordination, patient safety, and health system efficiency.
Timeliness of Event
This summit comes at a defining moment for Wales. With the Welsh Government and NHS leaders accelerating the push for digitisation, decisions made now will shape the nation’s health infrastructure for decades to come. The urgency to determine the optimal scale for EPR implementation is intensified by the availability of new funding, emerging vendor capabilities, and the growing body of experience from other UK nations. As health boards prepare to make strategic investments, this summit offers a unique opportunity to pause, align, and collectively determine the best path forward for Wales.
Key Topics and Focus Points
- Strategic Scale: National vs regional vs local EPR models — what works best for Wales?
- Infrastructure and Readiness: Assessing digital maturity across Welsh health boards.
- Clinical Leadership and Buy-In: Engaging CCIOs, CNIOs, and clinical teams in system design.
- Learning from Others: Real-world insights from Scotland, Northern Ireland, and English ICSs.
- Cost, Quality and Timelines: Understanding trade-offs in implementation approaches.
- Technology Flexibility: How vendors are supporting scalable, adaptable EPR solutions.
- Collective Vision: Shaping digital investment priorities through live polling and interactive sessions.
Why Attend
For Welsh digital leaders, clinicians, and programme teams, this summit is more than a conference — it's a rare opportunity to influence the national direction of digital health strategy. With Wales at a critical crossroads, delegates will hear directly from peers across the UK who have already faced the same questions and navigated similar complexities.
By participating, you'll gain practical insights, engage in meaningful dialogue, and help define the future of EPR in Wales.
