CareNHS — Campaign for Responsible Leadership in NHS Wales

Site Updates

What's new on carenhs.org — a log of new investigations into Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), evidence updates, FOI developments, and campaign activity.

Week of 10 May 2026

Three new investigations published. Post-election site overhaul. Open letter to the First Minister. 32 new cross-links. All Take Action pages rewritten for the new Senedd.

New Investigations

  • Dear First Minister: You Inherit a Crisis — An open letter to the incoming Welsh Government. You inherit NHS Wales in crisis — every health board failing, DHCW at Level 4, £600 million spent for £0.5 million return. Your manifesto asks DHCW to make Wales "a world leader in digital health." This is the organisation whose every programme failed. The letter sets out five specific reforms the patients of Wales need within 100 days: an independent external review, an independent NHS Wales inspectorate, an Independent Whistleblowing Officer, external review of every senior appointment, and an independent Senedd Digital Scrutiny Panel.

  • £757K to £49 Million. The Costs They Hide Keep Growing. Delivery Does Not. — DHCW's published accounts show £757,000 in consultancy. A first FOI revealed £8.94 million. Two further FOIs — FOI/6695599 and FOI/6695741, dated 28 April 2026 — reveal £49.1 million in external contracts, including £20.6 million actually paid to a single supplier (Kainos) across 31 work packages. KPMG has a new £4 million cloud migration contract. Channel 3 Consulting has doubled to £3 million. A £400,000 Tektology contract pays consultants to coach the board through the escalation their previous consultants failed to prevent. DHCW says even this answer is incomplete.

  • How They Falsify the Public Record — 85–90% of what was said at DHCW board meetings was deleted before publication. 107 documented instances of substantive content removed across 26 of 37 meetings. Warnings erased. Financial figures stripped. The CEO's public updates omit the fact the organisation is under government intervention. AI now drafts the sanitised record. The website that documented it was blocked on the NHS network. Built from 2.6 million words of verbatim transcript and a knowledge graph of over 1,000 entities.

Post-Election Site Overhaul

Wales elected a new Senedd on 7 May 2026 under a new electoral system — 96 MSs across 16 constituencies. The following pages have been updated to reflect the new political reality:

  • Homepage: Election banner replaced with open letter call-to-action. Featured article card updated to the £49 million investigation. Mid-page CTA rewritten for post-election framing.
  • Hold Your MS to Account (formerly "Hustings Questions") — Converted from pre-election hustings tool to post-election accountability page. Seven questions reframed for newly elected MSs. Level 4, £49 million, and open letter linked throughout.
  • Write to Your MS — Structural rewrite. Updated from 60 to 96 MSs, new constituency structure (6 MSs per constituency), candidate template removed, both letter templates updated with Level 4, £49 million, and open letter references.
  • Take Action hub card rewritten. Spread the Word politicians section rewritten. Social media posts updated.
  • Press & Media — Key Facts section now leads with Level 4. Two new key facts added: £49 million FOI disclosure and 85–90% board minutes sanitisation.
  • Navigation and footer — "Hustings Questions" renamed to "Hold Your MS to Account" site-wide.

Welsh Pages Updated

Cross-Linking

32 new cross-links implemented across five priority tiers:

  • Sequel links: £8.94 Million on Consultants, Money Furnace, and No Risks to Escalate all now link to the £49 million article with update notes.
  • Evidence reinforcement: Level 4, Best Place to Work, Buried Review, What They Admitted, and Nine Programmes all now link to the Falsifies Record article.
  • Call-to-action: World-Class Leadership, The Failing No One Names, Money Furnace, and Our Manifesto all now link to the open letter.
  • Outbound from new articles: 20 inline links from the three new articles to existing investigations (Level 4, Revolving Door, Two Whistleblowers, Credential Sprint, Buried Review, Refused, Eight Million, Money Furnace, Nine Programmes, What They Admitted, The Failing No One Names, Best Place to Work).
  • Core section pages: What We Have Found, Toxic Culture, Governance, Culture, and Leadership & Talent all now link to the new articles.
  • 12 internal links to unpublished draft articles identified and removed from prod site. Links either removed (Related sections), unlinked (kept as plain text), or replaced with "forthcoming" references.
  • DHCW website restructure: multiple dhcw.nhs.wales URLs returning 404 (pre-existing, not introduced by this update).

Corrections

  • "Ivan Evans" corrected to "Ifan Evans" across all articles (4 instances in 4 files).

Week of 26 April 2026

BREAKING: DHCW escalated to Level 4. Two new investigations published. All 37 board meetings now transcribed and mapped. 12 pages updated site-wide.

New Investigations

  • DHCW Now at Level 4 — Targeted Intervention. They Didn't See It Coming (Again) — Digital Health and Care Wales has been escalated to Level 4 — the highest level of government intervention ever applied to a non-health-board NHS body in Wales. No written statement. No press release. The escalation appeared silently on the Welsh Government's website during pre-election purdah. DHCW's own board reported 45 of 47 escalation milestones as delivered. Level 4 was imposed regardless. The article traces the full arc: the surprise at Level 3, the frustration that was deleted from the minutes, the reframing as "an opportunity," the milestone theatre — and how nobody saw Level 4 coming either.

  • Best Place to Work(-Related Stress) — DHCW won the BCS "UK Best Place to Work in IT" award. Its own data tells a different story: stress is the leading cause of absence, over half the workforce sick each year, 15,846 days lost, long-term sickness up 59% in three years, and a board that recorded "None to note." Now includes a 60-month chronological trajectory — from the first vacancy surplus at month 2 to the recruitment freeze at month 60 — built from systematic analysis of every DHCW board meeting transcript. Every milestone was said at a board meeting. Most were deleted from the published minutes.

Transcript Analysis: All 37 Board Meetings Mapped

CareNHS has completed the transcription and systematic analysis of every public DHCW board meeting from April 2021 to March 2026 — approximately 2.6 million words of verbatim transcript from publicly available videos. These transcripts have been cross-referenced through a knowledge graph of over 1,000 entities and 2,500 evidenced relationships, each traced to a specific passage in a specific transcript.

This work also covers committee meetings (Programmes Delivery, Audit & Assurance, Digital Governance & Standards) and continues with additional evidence sources. The methodology and findings will be published in full. The graph has already surfaced patterns invisible in individual meetings — including 65 executive admissions across three years (each deleted from the public record), 59 documented instances of content removed from published minutes, and 30 instances of undeclared conflicts of interest spanning five years.

Site Updates

  • Homepage: Breaking news banner added for Level 4 escalation. "What Is DHCW" section updated from Level 3 to Level 4.
  • The Problem pages: Level 4 context added to all five pages (The Problem index, What Is DHCW, What We Have Found, Scale of Failure, Leadership Analysis) — with links to the Level 4 article. Historical Level 3 references preserved as factual.
  • Press page: April 2026 Level 4 timeline entry added.
  • Existing articles: Level 4 update notes added to Money Furnace and No Risks to Escalate. Level 4 and Best Place to Work added to Related sections across all published articles.
  • Cross-linking: Both new articles cross-linked across all 7 published investigations.

New Evidence

11 primary source documents added to the evidence register: DHCW annual reports (2021-22, 2024-25), Annual Quality Report 2025, Organisational Strategy 2024-2030, IMTP 2025-28, Extraordinary Board papers April 2026, Evans conference slides, FOI follow-up response, Goodall COVID Inquiry statement 5, Senedd scrutiny report 2023, and WG DHCW Directions 2020.

Week of 20 April 2026

Two new FOI-based investigations published. Dynamic homepage section added. 10 cross-links. Title consistency across all articles.

New Investigations

  • £600 Million In. £0.5 Million Out — Welsh Government FOI response ATISN 26790 discloses approximately £600 million of DHCW funding over five years across three revenue streams (Core, DPIF, Primary Care IM&T) plus capital. Core funding has risen 78% in four years. DPIF programme funding — earmarked for the nine failing programmes — is being withdrawn to zero by 2026-27. DHCW's own Director of Finance disclosed the total demonstrated return at the January 2026 public accountability meeting: £0.5 million in non-cash time savings from a single system. That is 83p for every £1,000 invested.
  • £226 Million. 25 Minutes. No Risks to Escalate — On 16 April 2026, DHCW approved a £226,898,772 Microsoft Enterprise Agreement in a 25-minute extraordinary Board meeting by direct award. The Board paper's risk field read "No risks to escalate." Corporate Risk Assessment: N/A. Quality Impact Assessment: N/A. The article also examines £45.3 million in software costs hidden under "Premises" in published accounts for at least two years, a consultancy definition that excludes 96% of actual spend from the statutory line, and a governance statement that cannot complete its own sentence explaining why Level 3 was imposed.

Homepage

  • "Latest Investigations" section added below the Senedd outreach banner — dynamically shows the three most recent published articles with dates and category tags. Updates automatically as new articles are published.

Cross-linking

Corrections and Consistency

  • Trailing dots removed from all article titles for consistency across the site.
  • Remaining "highest tier" Level 3 references corrected (continuation of the 11 April correction).
  • Capacitas contracts added to the consultancy disclosure gap analysis in the evidence section.

Week of 11 April 2026

Two new FOI-based investigations published. Major factual correction across the entire site. 41 files changed, 4 new articles created (2 published, 2 held in draft). Homepage restructured. Downloadable FOI data added.

New Investigations

  • £8.94 Million on Consultants. Nine Programmes Still Failing. — FOI disclosure reveals 49 external consultancy contracts totalling £8,943,015 spanning 2019–2026. Three firms — Gartner (£2.07M), Channel 3 (£1.53M), KPMG (£1.28M) — took over half. Every programme they advised is now under Level 3 intervention. DHCW's published accounts disclosed £757K. Additional millions spent on Kainos for the NHS Wales App are not included. The original DHCW spreadsheet is available to download. Data last modified by DHCW on 14 May 2025.
  • £207,100 to Hear the Truth — Then They Buried It — DHCW paid Atos Healthcare Consulting £207,100 for an independent stakeholder review. 292 respondents. Only 13.3% spoke highly of the organisation. Descriptors: "Slow," "Inconsistent," "Confused." 50.4% said DHCW doesn't understand their work. The report was marked "for external use." It was never published. An anonymous insider account states the CEO presented the report internally as a triumph. Two further articles drafted and held for future publication.

Major Correction: Escalation Level

  • Level 3 is not the highest tier of intervention. The Welsh Government's NHS Wales Oversight and Escalation Framework has five levels, not three. Level 3 (Enhanced Monitoring) is the middle tier. Level 4 is Targeted Intervention; Level 5 is Special Measures (where Betsi Cadwaladr sits). The phrase "highest tier of intervention" appeared 63 times across 35 files and has been corrected throughout the site. We thank the anonymous submitter who flagged this.

Evidence Strengthened

  • Channel 3 Consulting: previously "contract value undisclosed" — now confirmed at £1.53M across 5 contracts via FOI.
  • Atos stakeholder review: previously "value undisclosed" — now confirmed at £207,100 with full findings published.
  • Consultancy classification gap: Financial Waste evidence page updated with the £8.94M FOI data, replacing the previous estimate based on £757K published accounts.
  • Governance transfer narrative added to Scale of Failure, Nine Programmes, and Financial Waste pages — two programmes (NHS Wales App, Digital Medicines) were progressing under external management before DHCW took them over; delivery stalled after the transfer.
  • Right of Reply language corrected across all 20 articles — now accurately states CareNHS welcomes a response, rather than implying pre-publication review was offered.
  • Source protection — all named submission sources anonymised across published content. Submissions now attributed by role and credentials only.
  • COVID shielding letter failure added to Patient Safety evidence page and Scale of Failure — 86,000 vulnerable patients received letters at wrong addresses in March 2020, confirmed by DHCW's own published apology. Linked to CEO's January 2025 admission: "Are we ready for the next one? No."
  • Website blocked inside Welsh Government — anonymous submission confirms the block extends beyond NHS Wales to Welsh Government civil servants.
  • CGI insider account added to consultancy article — anonymous senior DHCW staff member describes ~10 CGI consultants (including healthcare division CEO) on-site for weeks in mid-2024; report produced and buried; staff denied access. Raises direct question about DHCW's "no contracts with CGI Ltd" FOI statement.
  • Mozaic contracts missing — anonymous submission states Mozaic (management consultancy) was engaged 3 times by Executive Director of Operations during the FOI disclosure period. No Mozaic contract appears in the 49-contract register.

Homepage

  • Grid restructured: No Plan B (featured), Billion-Pound EHR Question (left), £8.94M on Consultants (centre), World-Class Leadership (right).

Senedd Outreach

Ahead of the Senedd dissolution on 8 April, CareNHS shared its evidence directly with Members of the Senedd across all major parties. We received substantive engagement from members of multiple parties, including the governing party. At the suggestion of outgoing committee chairs, the evidence has been formally submitted to both the Health and Social Care Committee and the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee clerking teams — where it will be available to the incoming committees of the 7th Senedd.

Campaign outreach to politicians is paused during the election period and will resume after the new Senedd is constituted. We look forward to engaging with whichever Members are elected and whichever committees are formed.

FOI Update

  • CareNHS's own FOI requests to DHCW were initially blocked on a technicality (campaign name vs individual). As an Unincorporated Association, CareNHS has full legal standing. After challenge, DHCW accepted the requests — they are now in processing, delayed by weeks.

Week of 31 March 2026

Cornerstone EHR investigation. New Take Action page. Welsh section expanded. Professor of Practice exposed. 16 commits, 30 files changed.

  • The Billion-Pound Question Wales Cannot Afford to Get Wrong — our most significant investigation to date. Wales must decide how 3.2 million patients' health records will work for a generation. England has over 90% EPR coverage. Northern Ireland deployed Epic across all trusts. Wales produced two reports in nine months. The article covers the build-vs-buy debate, the NPfIT £12.7 billion failure, Option C (fix the leadership before deciding), and why the current DHCW executive team is not qualified to make this decision. Now the featured article on the homepage.

New Pages

  • Spread the Word — a new Take Action page. DHCW blocked this site from NHS networks — you are the distribution channel. Specific guidance for sharing with NHS colleagues (word of mouth, personal devices), journalists (by beat), politicians (pre-election), professional bodies, and social media. Includes 9 ready-made copy-paste posts.
  • Welsh section expanded — two new pages: Diogelwch Cleifion / Patient Safety (WPAS, WCCG, eMPI, Royal Colleges warning) and Rhyddid Gwybodaeth / FOI Refused (blanket refusal story in Welsh). Three new quotes added to Beth Ddywedon Nhw including "tricky question," "collective responsibility," and Cabinet Secretary's "does not drive improvement." Two new hustings questions in Welsh. "Corrections welcome" disclaimer removed.

Campaign Structure

  • Who We Are now includes Our Structure section: constituted as an Unincorporated Association with Chair, Secretary, Treasurer — the same legal structure used by Cure the NHS (Mid Staffs) and Keep Our NHS Public.
  • Right of Reply added to the About dropdown in the navigation.
  • Campaign demands now in all Take Action pages — the EHR decision and leadership change arguments are woven into Write to Your MS (new questions in all 3 letter templates), Hustings (new Q5 Leadership Change and Q6 EHR Decision), and Spread the Word social posts.

Evidence Strengthened

  • EHR findings propagated across 6 core pages: Imperial College study (11M occasions records inaccessible) and BBC investigation (3 deaths, 126 serious harms) added to patient safety. NPfIT £12.7B failure and PAC quote added to scale of failure. Northern Ireland and England benchmarks added to financial waste. EHR stakes section added to case summary. EHR urgency added to leadership reform proposals. FHIR framed as precondition for EHR decision in technical strategy.
  • Professor of Practice credential fully exposed — UWTSD role awarded through WIDI (an NHS Wales partnership), meaning NHS Wales's own university partnership gave the title to NHS Wales's CEO. Comparable UWTSD appointments (Elliott Atkins) involve teaching, curriculum development, and student access. No evidence Helen Thomas has delivered any of this in 5 years. LinkedIn profile lists it as bold "Professor" under Honours & awards — burying the "of Practice" qualifier.
  • Sam Hall FBCS — now documented as obtained at CEO's encouragement, consistent with the pattern of directed credential accumulation.
  • Cross-linking completed — EHR article linked from/to 11 pages. Related pages sections added to 5 articles that previously lacked them.

Homepage

  • EHR article now featured (large card). No Plan B first in grid, Leadership second, Nine Programmes third.

Week of 24 March 2026

The biggest update since the site launched. 9 new articles. 46 files changed. Campaign demands expanded.

New Investigations

  • Wales Deserves World-Class Leadership — England hired a Credit Suisse technologist. Wales promoted an administrator. Research from Harvard, Stanford, and a meta-analysis of 13,578 CEO successions explains why insiders cannot fix what they built.
  • Six FOI Requests. One Identical Refusal. — We asked DHCW how it spends public money. It refused every request. The refusal letter is published in full.
  • No Plan B — The failing organisation that controls every hospital, GP surgery, and cancer unit in Wales.
  • Nine Programmes, Zero Results — Updated programme failure analysis with latest data.
  • Your GP Referral — Every referral in Wales depends on 8-year-old unsupported technology.
  • Speaking Up Safely — 91.3% say they feel safe. The national data says otherwise.
  • The Accountability Gap — Governance frameworks exist. Consequences do not.
  • Blocked — DHCW blocked this website from NHS Wales networks.
  • Migrated Back — They migrated every GP system in Wales. Then migrated them all back.

Campaign Demands: 6 to 7

New demand: World-class leadership through open international recruitment. CEO, Executive Director of Operations, CFO, and Chief Digital Officer recruited through open competition. Full details in our manifesto.

FOI Campaign

All 6 filed requests refused by DHCW on a technicality. Resubmitting under an individual's name. ICO complaint being filed. Three new requests added: Health Board operational impact (FOI-055), Welsh Government sanctions (FOI-056), site blocking authorisation (FOI-057).

Evidence Strengthened

Senedd July 2023 scrutiny report (37 pages, 16 recommendations) integrated across the site. Workforce trajectory updated to 78% growth (675 to 1,200). Cyber unit: 4 people protecting 3 million patients. RCGP "frustration" and bowel screening 10-year delay added to patient safety evidence. NHS App England (39 million users) comparison added throughout. NIHR turnaround research and CEO succession meta-analysis added to leadership pages.

Corrections

  • Sarah Wilkinson bio: Deloitte (incorrect) corrected to Credit Suisse / Home Office
  • WPAS: "every hospital" corrected to "almost every hospital" — Cardiff & Vale runs its own PMS
  • Level 3 escalation date: 2024 corrected to March 2025
  • "Under Oath" link text removed (accountability meeting was not under oath)

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