Welsh Nursing Care Record live across inpatient wards
The Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR) is now live across all eligible inpatient wards across Wales and used daily by more than 20,000 clinical staff in 58 hospitals. Following a pilot in 2020, rollout of the standardised digital system began in April 2021 and was completed in July 2025. The WNCR was developed by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) in partnership with Welsh Government, health boards and trusts, with academic evaluation by Welsh universities, to replace paper-based records and enable nurses to record and access patient information at the bedside using a tablet, laptop or mobile computer. Sue Tranka, chief nursing officer for Wales, said: “I am delighted to see the successful national rollout of the Welsh Nursing Care Record across all eligible inpatient wards in Wales. “This achievement marks a significant step forward in modernising nursing practice, reducing duplication, freeing up valuable time for patient care, and enhancing the safety and quality of the care we provide. “I look forward to the opportunities this will create to triangulate assessments, enabling more preventative, focused, and individualised interventions. My sincere thanks go to everyone who has helped make this vision a reality.” The WNCR includes standardised digital versions of 10 core risk assessments and marks one of the most significant professional and digital transformations in nursing practice in Wales in the last 30 years. It is expected to reduce duplication, improve consistency, auditability and communication and free up time for patient care. Fran Beadle, chief nursing information officer at DHCW, said: “It is fantastic to see that the WNCR has now been rolled out nationally. “The system supports improved patient safety and continuity of care by ensuring that all healthcare professionals have instant access to accurate, up-to-date information.” James Braun, product manager for the WNCR, added: “It has been amazing working with all the teams across NHS Wales on the WNCR, and it’s so rewarding to now have rolled the system out 100%.” Meanwhile, in January 2025 the Welsh government announced that an electronic health record (EHR) and app will be rolled out across the country to enable mothers-to-be to access their full maternity records instantly.