Improving patient care by transforming access to kidney transplant patient data across Wales: Collaborative implementation of a live-data digital dashboard

Welsh Blood Service

The Welsh Transplantation Laboratory, part of the Welsh Blood Service, maintains records for approximately 250 patients from South, West and Mid Wales on the UK waiting list to receive a kidney transplant – the ‘Transplant Register’. This crucial data is distributed to over 80 laboratory ‘service users’: hospitals, dialysis centres and individuals across Wales, who work in partnership to care for and facilitate transplants for Welsh patients.

Previously, this data was pulled from laboratory IT systems and distributed monthly. A printed copy of the Transplant Register was also required in the laboratory, as not all relevant data could be viewed simultaneously in the laboratory IT system. A digital solution was first proposed in 2021, and a project team was created in January 2022 to develop a digital transplant dashboard. The intention was to improve access to information about patients waiting to receive a kidney transplant and contribute to the provision of high-quality care and patient experience.

A collaborative project group was formed with representatives from the Welsh Transplantation Laboratory, Welsh Blood Service Digital team, Digital Health and Care Wales, and the Microsoft 365 excellence team. Internal and external users of the Register, including Scientists, Nephrologists, Surgeons, Transplant Co-ordinators and Nursing staff from several Health Boards contributed to the design and functionality of the Dashboard.

The Transplant Dashboard was put into routine use in December 2022 and has been praised by staff and service users for ease of access to data to assist delivery of safe and efficient patient care. The dashboard allows up-to-date data to be instantly available, giving a more accurate overview to support decision making, and eliminating the requirement for PDF / paper distribution. It is also very interactive, allowing data to be quickly searched or filtered, which is crucial in the complex, but time-critical process of identifying a compatible patient when a kidney is available for transplant.