Cyflwyno set ddata gofal brys Cymru (WHC/2026/031)

Statws:

Camau i’w cymryd.

Categori:

Digidol, data a thechnoleg.

Teitl:

Cyflwyno set ddata gofal brys Cymru.

Dyddiad dod i ben neu adolygu:

1 Ebrill 2027.

I’w weithredu gan:

• prif weithredwyr, byrddau iechyd lleol, a Iechyd a Gofal Digidol Cymru (IGDC)
• prif swyddogion byrddau iechyd lleol neu ymddiriedolaethau'r GIG
• cyfarwyddwyr gweithredol sy'n gyfrifol am y maes digidol, byrddau iechyd lleol ac IGDC
• cyfarwyddwyr sy'n gyfrifol am wybodaeth a pherfformiad, byrddau iechyd lleol ac IGDC
• cyfarwyddwyr meddygol a chyfarwyddwyr nyrsio, byrddau iechyd lleol ac IGDC
• Uwch Dîm Arweinyddiaeth, Perfformiad a Gwella GIG Cymru

Er gwybodaeth:

• Iechyd Cyhoeddus Cymru
• Ymddiriedolaeth Prifysgol GIG Gwasanaethau Ambiwlans Cymru

I’w weithredu erbyn:

Gweithredu'n llawn erbyn 31 Mawrth 2027.

Anfonwyd gan:

Jeremy Griffith, Cyfarwyddwr Gweithrediadau, GIG Cymru.

Enwau cyswllt yn Llywodraeth Cymru:

Y Tîm Polisi Gofal Brys ac Argyfwng
Y Grŵp Iechyd, Gofal ac Atal
Llywodraeth Cymru
Parc Cathays
Caerdydd
CF10 3NQ
GofalBrysAcArgyfwng.BusnesYLlywodraeth@llyw.cymru

Dogfennau perthnasol [Saesneg yn unig]:

• Set Ddata Gofal Brys Cymru: DSCN 2024/12 wedi'i diwygio a'i ailgyhoeddi Rhagfyr 2025
• Canllaw i Ddefnyddwyr Set Ddata Gofal Brys Cymru
• Set Ddata Gofal Brys Cymru: fersiwn 1.2 Manyleb Allbwn Technegol Uwch

Dear colleagues,

Purpose

This Welsh health circular confirms the requirement for local health boards to implement the Welsh Emergency Care Data Set (WECDS), across all major emergency departments and minor injury units by 31 March 2027.

WECDS is fundamental to improving the quality, completeness and usefulness of emergency care information in Wales, correcting a long standing and unacceptable position where meaningful clinical data is absent from our urgent and emergency care system. It will provide a stronger understanding of demand, patient acuity and complexity, clinical activity, patient flow, variation and outcomes. It will also support service improvement and the development of future measures that better reflect quality, safety, risk and outcomes of care.

Successful implementation is a national priority and an important enabler of the forthcoming emergency and acute care policy framework. The requirement, first issued in July 2024, to maintain momentum and deliver WECDS by 31 March 2027 was set out in correspondence to local health board chief executives on 7 August 2026 and reinforced in the operational letter issued on 26 August 2026.

Delivery will be monitored through NHS Wales accountability arrangements, with NHS Wales Performance and Improvement (NHSWPI) providing the principal operational assurance and improvement interface.

Implementation mandate

Full implementation of WECDS across all major emergency departments and minor injury units must be achieved no later than 31 March 2027. All local health boards are expected to have completed implementation and be fully compliant with the WECDS enhanced technical output specification by this date.

This circular extends the implementation deadline set out in the amended and republished DSCN 2024/12 from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. The scope, approved information standard and associated technical specification otherwise remain in effect. Local systems and processes must comply with the WECDS enhanced technical output specification.

The revised implementation date provides additional time to complete the necessary clinical, operational, workforce, digital, information and data-flow changes. It should not be interpreted as a reduction in the priority of this national mandate nor as a reason to delay implementation activity. Local health boards are expected to maintain momentum and progress implementation at pace. Organisations that are able to implement before 31 March 2027 should do so.

Progress against this mandate, including risks to delivery and the credibility of local recovery action, will be subject to routine challenge and assurance by NHSWPI.

Scope and submission requirements

This mandate applies to every major emergency department and minor injury unit operated or hosted by a local health board. Where implementation is phased, local health boards should prioritise major emergency departments while maintaining a clear route to full implementation across all services within scope by 31 March 2027.

Consistent with the amended and republished DSCN 2024/12, same-day emergency care has been de-prioritised for this phase and is outside the scope of this mandate. Any future requirements and timescales for same-day emergency care will be communicated separately.

Implementation must support and replace two complementary national information flows:

Monthly validated information

Local health boards must submit validated WECDS information to Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) on the 10th calendar day of each month for national reporting and publication.

Appropriate local validation, approval and data quality assurance processes must be completed prior to submission. Local health boards are responsible for ensuring that monthly information is complete, accurate, timely, compliant with the national standard and submitted by the required date. DHCW will receive monthly submissions and apply the agreed national validation and processing arrangements to support national reporting and publication.

Daily unvalidated information

Local health boards must also submit unvalidated WECDS information to DHCW each day for operational management and oversight.

Daily information will be provisional and may be subject to revisions through the monthly validation process. However, daily submissions must be sufficiently complete and timely to provide a reliable view of activity, demand and operational pressures.

The daily and monthly flows serve distinct operation and performance management purposes and are both mandatory requirements. Submission of one does not remove the requirement to provide the other.

Detailed submission timetables, transmission arrangements and technical requirements will be communicated through the relevant national technical and delivery arrangements.

Roles, responsibilities and accountability

Delivery of WECDS is a shared national priority, with distinct responsibilities for local health boards, Welsh Government, NHSWPI and DHCW.

Local health boards

Local health boards own and are accountable for implementation of WECDS within their organisations, including their services, local systems, delivery arrangements, data flows and data quality. 

National support or enhanced oversight does not transfer responsibility away from the organisation. This reflects wider accountability arrangements, under which NHS organisations remain responsible for day-to-day service delivery and performance through their own management and governance arrangements. 

Each local health board must:

• develop and maintain an approved and resourced implementation plan covering every major emergency department and minor injury unit within scope
• identify an executive senior responsible owner, supported by clear clinical, operational, digital, information and performance leadership
• ensure local systems and workflows comply with the national WECDS standard
• establish daily unvalidated and monthly validated data submissions
• ensure that information is complete, accurate, valid, consistent and timely
• maintain effective board oversight and assurance
• identify and escalate risks, barriers and dependencies at the earliest opportunity
• engage openly with NHSWPI and DHCW

NHS Wales Performance and Improvement

NHS Wales Performance and Improvement will act as the principal operational assurance and improvement interface for WECDS delivery. It will:

• monitor and challenge delivery against the requirements and deadline set out in this circular
• maintain a coherent national view of implementation progress, risks and readiness
• coordinate routine delivery assurance with local health boards and DHCW
• agree and monitor actions and milestones
• identify emerging organisational and system risks
• coordinate improvement support where required
• provide Welsh Government with regular evidence-based assurance
• escalate material risks, persistent non-delivery or inadequate recovery action through NHS Wales accountability arrangements

NHSWPI’s role is to provide operational assurance, challenge and support. Formal accountability, escalation and intervention decisions remain with Welsh Government and Welsh Ministers.

Digital Health and Care Wales

Digital Health and Care Wales is accountable for delivery and maintenance of the national information standard, associated technical specifications, national data-flow arrangements, and national data products and services supporting WECDS. It will:

• work with local health boards and NHSWPI to support coordinated implementation of the national information-standard, technical and data-flow requirements
• maintain, update and publish the WECDS information standard, associated technical specifications, national reference data, terminology requirements, implementation guidance and supporting documentation through established governance and change-control arrangements
• provide and maintain ingestion processes to receive, process and centrally collate WECDS submissions in accordance with agreed national submission arrangements
• provide and maintain national data-flow, validation and data-service arrangements
• provide advice and guidance on conformance with the WECDS information standard and associated technical specifications
• provide and maintain national data products, services and integration capabilities to support authorised access to and use of WECDS information across NHS Wales
• identify and escalate technical, information-standard and national data-flow risks and dependencies to NHSWPI and Welsh Government at the earliest opportunity
• provide NHSWPI and Welsh Government with timely evidence, reporting and assurance on delivery of its responsibilities

DHCW will work with local health boards to support standardised collection and storage of WECDS information and ensure that relevant national systems comply with the enhanced technical output specification.

Welsh Government

Welsh Government will:

• set the national policy requirement, scope, outcomes and implementation deadline
• commission delivery and national support
• receive and test assurance provided through NHS Wales accountability arrangements
• determine whether formal escalation or intervention is required
• maintain overall policy oversight of whether the intended national outcomes are being achieved

Underpinning digital transformation

Local health boards may continue to develop or procure wider urgent and emergency care digital solutions. However, local procurement, replacement-system programmes or longer-term digital transformation must not delay or compromise compliance with this mandate.

Local or national solutions must:

• comply with the national WECDS standard;
• enable the flow of complete and consistent daily unvalidated and monthly validated data submissions to DHCW
• meet national interoperability and data-flow requirements
• provide a credible route to full implementation by 31 March 2027

Governance and assurance

Chief executives are accountable for ensuring that WECDS is delivered as a board-level priority. Boards must receive regular assurance covering:

• progress against agreed milestones for every site within scope
• executive and clinical ownership
• system, supplier and workforce readiness
• readiness and performance of daily and monthly data submissions
• data quality and completeness
• unresolved risks, dependencies and barriers

WECDS delivery will be monitored through NHS Wales accountability arrangements with NHSWPI providing the principal operational assurance interface. Local health boards and DHCW must provide timely and accurate information, respond to challenge and deliver agreed actions and milestones.

Where there is material risk to delivery, repeated failure to meet agreed milestones or insufficient recovery action, NHSWPI will escalate the matter to Welsh Government. Welsh Government will determine whether further escalation, intervention or additional support is required.

Required action

Chief executives must ensure that:

• an executive senior responsible owner is identified and WECDS is maintained as a board-level priority
• full implementation is achieved across every major emergency department and minor injury unit by 31 March 2027
• daily unvalidated and monthly validated submissions are established and supported by effective data-quality arrangements
• timely evidence is provided to NHSWPI, with risks escalated and agreed actions delivered through NHS Wales accountability arrangements

DHCW is expected to provide equivalent assurance on delivery of the national technical, information-standard and data-service components for which it is responsible.

Failure to deliver complete, accurate and timely WECDS information will limit the collective ability of NHS Wales to understand demand, manage operational pressures, assess quality and outcomes, identify variation and target improvement.

The revised deadline of 31 March 2027 must be regarded as the final deadline by which full implementation is achieved, not  the point at which implementation activity commences.

Thank you for your continued leadership and support.

Yours sincerely

Jeremy Griffith
NHS Wales Director of Operations
Welsh Government