Hold Your New MS to Account
Seven questions your newly elected Members of the Senedd must answer about Digital Health and Care Wales — the failing organisation that controls every hospital, GP surgery, and cancer unit in Wales.
The Election Is Over. Accountability Starts Now.
Wales has a new government. 96 Members of the Senedd have been elected across 16 constituencies. Many are entirely new to Welsh politics. They made promises. They now have power. And they inherit an NHS digital infrastructure in crisis.
Digital Health and Care Wales — the organisation behind every GP referral, every prescription, every hospital appointment in Wales — is at Level 4: Targeted Intervention. The highest escalation ever applied to a non-health-board NHS body. Every major programme failing. £600 million spent. £0.5 million returned. The new government's manifesto asks DHCW to make Wales "a world leader in digital health." This is the organisation whose every programme failed.
CareNHS has published an open letter to the First Minister setting out five reforms the patients of Wales need within 100 days. The questions below are for every MS — not just the Health Minister. Digital health affects every patient in every constituency. Your MS must be able to answer them.
The Questions
1. Level 4 Intervention and Accountability
"DHCW has been escalated to Level 4 — Targeted Intervention — the highest level ever applied to a non-health-board NHS body in Wales. Every major programme was failing when escalation was imposed. What will you do to ensure accountability for this unprecedented failure?"
Level 4 is one step from Special Measures. The escalation appeared silently on the Welsh Government website during pre-election purdah — no Written Statement, no press release, no announcement. The previous government imposed escalation but changed nothing about the leadership that caused it.
2. Return on Investment
"The CEO of DHCW admitted in a public meeting that she cannot demonstrate what return the public has received on £600 million of funding. The only quantified return is £0.5 million in non-cash time savings. Do you believe this is acceptable?"
In January 2026, CEO Helen Thomas stated "We don't have an ROI on all of our investments." This was her own admission, in a public forum. That is 83p for every £1,000 invested.
3. £49 Million on Consultants
"DHCW's published accounts show £757,000 in consultancy spending. FOI requests have revealed £49 million in external contracts — including £20.6 million to a single supplier. DHCW says even this figure is incomplete. Will you support a full forensic audit of DHCW's spending?"
Each time you ask, the number multiplies. Three FOIs. Three figures. Each technically accurate. Each concealing a number many times larger. The full analysis is published.
4. Whistleblower Protection
"At least two senior DHCW employees have allegedly been dismissed after raising concerns that the Welsh Government later confirmed. Your government's manifesto includes strengthening public services. Will you establish an independent Freedom to Speak Up Guardian — as Scotland and England already have?"
The 2018 Public Accounts Committee found that DHCW's predecessor was "the antithesis of open." Eight years later, the pattern appears unchanged. Staff who raise concerns lose their positions — every documented time, without exception.
5. Patient Impact
"The Royal College of Physicians and RCGP Cymru Wales warned that DHCW's digital failures were causing patients to 'regularly experience delays that lead to worsening health.' What will this government do differently?"
This is not an abstract technology problem. Clinicians — the people who treat patients every day — told the previous government directly that digital failures were harming patients. They received no meaningful response.
6. Leadership Change
"England's NHS App has 39 million users. Wales's was described by the Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Wales as 'mired in delay.' England recruited its digital health leaders from Credit Suisse, Jaguar Land Rover, and the Home Office. Wales promoted from within. Will you support recruiting DHCW's executive team through open international competition?"
Research from 13,578 CEO successions shows that outside leaders initiate significantly more strategic change than insiders. IBM, GDS, and NHS Digital were all transformed by leaders hired from outside. DHCW's CEO has spent over 30 years in NHS Wales administration.
7. The EHR Decision
"Wales must decide how every patient record in the country will work — for a generation. England has over 90% coverage. Northern Ireland deployed a unified system. Wales has no national EHR, no timeline, and the organisation responsible has failed at every programme. Who should make this billion-pound decision?"
This is the most consequential technology decision in the history of NHS Wales. The UK already wasted £12.7 billion on NPfIT. The people who make this decision must have proven EHR delivery experience. The current leadership does not.
How to Contact Your MS
- Find your MSs: Use Senedd.wales/find-your-member — enter your postcode to find your six constituency MSs.
- Write to them: Use our letter templates — or copy one of the questions above directly.
- Email is effective: MSs are required to respond to constituents. A clear, specific question gets a better response than a general complaint.
- Share their response: Send what you receive to carenhs@carenhs.org so we can publish it.
Track Their Responses
We will publish a tracker of MSs' positions — who commits to action, who deflects, and who refuses to engage. Every question asked is pressure applied. Every answer recorded is a commitment that can be held to account.
Email your MS responses to: carenhs@carenhs.org