NHS Wales App: DHCW and Kainos launch successful flagship service 7 months early

Home · Insights · Success Stories · DHCW and Kainos launch successful flagship service 7 months early
Date posted
17 November 2023
Reading time
5 minutes

Achievements at a glance

Requirements

  • New NHS Wales App giving people easy access to health information and services 
  • User-friendly, bilingual and secure app that works across the complex NHS tech ecosystem 
  • To be delivered and deployed within two years 

Results 

  • 7 Months, ahead of launch deadline
  • 81% of patients at participating GP practices had registered with the app within six months 
  • 31% of app users were trying this type of digital service for the first time 
  • 100% of GP practices in Wales on track to be onboarded before April 2024

The Welsh Government created Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) in 2021 as the national organisation responsible for developing the country’s digital services in this key area.  

Challenge 

In November 2021, DHCW launched an ambitious flagship project – creating an NHS Wales App that gives people more control over their NHS experience and provides access to key health information. 

Conscious of the complex healthcare technology ecosystem, DHCW decided to start with a minimum viable product (MVP) focused on primary care and launching with select GP practices. This would provide a technical foundation and build momentum for scaling across additional services. 

Keen to hit the ground running with its new mandate, DHCW set an ambitious timeline – MVP launch in two years. 

Why Kainos 

Kainos is an experienced NHS partner. For more than a decade, we’ve helped a range of NHS and global healthcare providers use technology to enable better patient care and outcomes. Importantly, we also helped deliver the NHS App in England. 

This experience made us an ideal partner for developing the NHS Wales App at speed while laying the foundation for long-term scalability and value. 

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Approach 

We spearheaded a robust, user-centred approach to design and development. It accounted for the needs of both Welsh citizens and GPs – and coordinated technology, UX design, operating models, release management and support across NHS Wales, GPs and NHS suppliers. 

Innovative way of re-using code 

To accelerate delivery and leverage our experience developing the NHS App in England, we re-used and improved the NHS App’s codebase, integrations and design components. 

Patient and GP needs at heart 

We also needed to adapt that codebase to meet the specific requirements of Welsh citizens and GPs. This involved: 

  • User research – covering patients and GPs  
  • Design – including bilingual content design to support a Welsh language option 
  • Enterprise operating model – bringing GPs, suppliers and systems together  
  • Agile delivery practices and tooling – working across the NHS Wales GP network to design and develop service enhancements  
  • New security tooling and integrating with NHS Login – enhancing the authentication process while protecting personal health information 
  • Private beta – with 1,000 patients across 10 GP practices to test and improve pre-launch 

Thanks to this approach, we incorporated a broad range of needs into the app – and engaged GP practices to support the roll-out.  

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Results 

The NHS Wales App launched in April 2023, seven months ahead of schedule. It’s now helping people take control of their wellbeing, signposting them to relevant healthcare services, providing personalised resources and boosting NHS efficiency. 

Impressive take-up 

Just six months after launch: 

  • 81% of patients at participating GP practices had registered with the app 
  • 31% of app users were using this type of digital service for the first time, demonstrating an important channel shift 
  • 27 GP practices had been onboarded, with good progress being made in adopting 100% of GP practices to the NHS Wales App before April 2024 
  • The app had 100% availability and no significant service incidents 

Value-oriented, user-centric roadmap 

DHCW now has an exciting roadmap for the app, including proxy access for parents and carers, vaccination services and waiting list information. We developed a framework to help them quantify the value of new features and align them with user-focused insights, so they can continually put patient needs at the heart of planning. 

 

Download the case study

Kainos was both creative and efficient in its approach to delivering the NHS Wales App. Their deep knowledge of NHS and healthcare technology streamlined the entire process, and their robust approach to assessing user needs ensured the app was user-friendly and accessible for the many different people using the service.

Matt Cornish
Programme Director, Digital Services for Patients and the Public
Digital Health & Care Wales

“With the development of the NHS Wales App, we are about to see how we can improve the service for our patients and make life easier for us as GPs.”

Dr Aled Davies
General Practitioner
NHS Wales

The app and its accompanying website represent the single, patient-facing entry point for digital health and social care services in Wales – and provide a platform for future digital services.

Eluned Morgan MS
Minister for Health and Social Services, Wales
Welsh Government