Development of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) Standards for Social Care Data in Wa

*****THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD***We are seeking an expert organisation to support Social Care Wales in developing and implementing data standards for social care in Wales using the H7 FHIR R4 framework: Wales FHIR Implementation GuideThe aims of this contract are to:* Develop data standards for social care in Wales through creation of a Minimum Operating Data Standards (MODS) for adult social care, children's social care and the social care workforce (prototype)* Extend the use of HL7 FHIR in social care by developing the Wales FHIR profile to support social care data, aligned with the broader National Data Resource (NDR) initiative.* Support national interoperability goals to enable safe, effective, and standardised data exchange between disparate social care health systems across Wales.The successful supplier will work collaboratively with Social Care Wales and stakeholders from across social care in Wales to:* Review and assess existing social care data standards (NHS England, Kanta Finland, PRSB, Interweave etc.) to identify existing work that might fit Wales's needs.* Collaborate with Social Care Wales and a range of social care stakeholders to -develop Minimum Operating Data Standards (MODS) for adult and children's social care in Wales, plus prototype MODS for the social care workforce in Wales.* Update the Wales FHIR framework.to include these MODs using HL7 FHIR R4 standards.* Provide expert advice and consultancy about FHIR, data standards, interoperability and data exchange formats through the project. provide FHIR training and resources as necessary.The successful supplier will require:* Expert knowledge of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)* Knowledge and experience of working with organisations that deliver health and social care (adult's and children's), with particular reference to the context of its delivery in Wales.* Experience of designing, developing and implementing data interoperability frameworks.Understanding of the policy context and drivers for health and social care digital and data in Wales.* An understanding of specific policy legislation and regulations applicable to Wales, e.g. The Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and 'More than just words' - the Welsh Government's Strategic Framework for the Welsh Language in Health and Social Care.* Methodical and organised and able to work to deadlines.* Ability to communicate technical matters in an accessible (Plain English) format able to be understood by a non-technical audience.* Experience of working in health or social care in Wales would be helpful.The successful supplier will deliver:* Proposed Minimum Operating Data Standards (MODS) for adult social care in Wales* Proposed Minimum Operating Data Standards (MODS) for children's social care in Wales* A prototype Minimum Operating Data Standards (MODS) for the social care workforce in Wales* Supporting digital resources for FHIR, data standards and data interoperability to support stakeholder's understanding of the project.* FHIR training sessions tailored to social care stakeholders* FHIR expert consultancy on a hybrid basis (in-person and virtually) as requiredContext / BackgroundA key digital and data programme for health and social care in Wales is the National Data Resource (NDR). This programme is designed to bring together health and social care data from several disparate sources so that it can be made available to the right professionals at the right time, leading to better decision making and improved healthcare, and care and support. The NDR has a range of additional benefits such as curating and anonymising data for research within a trusted research environment (TRE) and making anonymous data available to organisations to be able to conduct advanced analytics with the latest tools and technologies.

Social Care Wales is a key federated partner in the NDR programme and is committed to delivering the aims and objectives of the programme.Social care in Wales is delivered in a mixed economy of local authorities and commissioned services made up of approximately 1,200 commercial, third sector and not for profit organisations. Most people have their care and support managed by local authorities, but a significant minority in Wales also self-fund their care directly or manage their care through a direct payment.There is a collective understanding by leaders in health and care that data can play a fundamental part in improving the quality and outcomes of health and social care in Wales. The availability of this data is key to this.

The NDR will make people's health and social care data easier to access and analyse in a safe and ethical manner.At present, there are no national standards for data in social care in Wales. To be able to share data effectively, we need to be clear about which data we are sharing and receiving. Creating data standards for social care creates a common approach to describing the data we want to share.

We can use these standards to help us to create the technical solutions that allow systems to share data with each other.In Wales, as in an increasing number of other countries, the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) has been chosen as the data exchange standard to share data in health and social care. The FHIR standard was originally created for healthcare, but more people are now looking at how FHIR can be developed to contain other data such as data about a person's social care.