CareNHS — Campaign for Responsible Leadership in NHS Wales

Write to Your MS

How to contact your Member of the Senedd about failures at Digital Health and Care Wales — with letter templates and practical guidance.

Why Writing to Your MS Matters

The new Senedd has 96 Members elected across 16 constituencies. Even a handful of letters on the same subject will register as a significant issue. Unlike petitions or social media posts, a personal letter from a constituent demands a personal response. MSs are obliged to engage with the concerns of the people they represent.

Individual constituent letters remain the single most effective form of political pressure available to ordinary citizens. They cannot be dismissed as organised lobbying. They cannot be ignored without political cost. When multiple constituents write independently on the same subject, it tells an MS that a real problem exists — one that voters care about and will remember.

DHCW is a Welsh Government-owned body that has received over £600 million in public funding since its creation in 2021. In April 2026, the Welsh Government escalated DHCW to Level 4 — Targeted Intervention — the highest level ever applied to a non-health-board NHS body in Wales, one step from Special Measures. FOI requests have revealed £49 million in external contracts — 65 times what the published accounts disclosed. Your MS has a direct responsibility to scrutinise how that money is being spent and whether the leadership of DHCW is fit for purpose.

Wales has a new government. Your newly elected MSs need to hear from you now — before the machinery of government teaches them to stop listening.

Find Your MS

You can find your MSs using the Senedd's own tool:

senedd.wales/find-your-member

Enter your postcode and you will be shown your elected representatives. Under the new electoral system, you have six MSs for your constituency. You are entitled to write to all of them.

You can also use www.writetothem.com to write directly.

Letter Templates

The templates below are starting points. Use your own words wherever possible — personalised letters are taken far more seriously than identical copies. Change the details to reflect your own experience and concerns.

Template A: General Constituent Concern

Dear [Name of MS],

I am writing to you as your constituent in [your area] to raise serious concerns about the management and leadership of Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), the Welsh Government body responsible for NHS digital services.

In April 2026, the Welsh Government escalated DHCW to Level 4 — Targeted Intervention — the highest level ever applied to a non-health-board NHS body. Every major programme was failing. The previous government imposed this escalation without announcement, during pre-election purdah. Your government now inherits this crisis.

At a public accountability meeting in January 2026, the CEO of DHCW, Helen Thomas, admitted: "We don't have an ROI on all of our investments." DHCW has received over £600 million in public funding since 2021. FOI requests have revealed £49 million in external consultancy and contractor contracts — 65 times what the published accounts disclosed — with DHCW confirming even this figure is incomplete. The only quantified return is £0.5 million in non-cash time savings. That is 83p for every £1,000 invested.

Despite this level of failure, no one in DHCW's senior leadership has been held accountable. The same people who presided over the failures remain in post.

I would like to know:

  1. What steps will this government take to hold DHCW's leadership accountable for Level 4 intervention?
  2. Do you support a full independent audit of DHCW's governance, spending, and delivery record?
  3. Do you believe the current leadership — which has presided over the failure of every major programme — should remain in post?
  4. Wales must decide how 3.2 million patients' health records will work for a generation. England has over 90% EPR coverage. Northern Ireland deployed a unified system. Will you ensure this decision is not entrusted to leaders who have failed at every programme they have attempted?
  5. Will you raise this matter in the Senedd or with the Health Minister?

CareNHS has published an open letter to the First Minister setting out five reforms the patients of Wales need within 100 days. I urge you to read it. Further documented evidence is available at carenhs.org.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely, [Your full name] [Your full address]

Template B: Healthcare Worker / Clinician

Dear [Name of MS],

I am writing to you as a healthcare professional working in NHS Wales and as your constituent in [your area]. I wish to raise urgent concerns about the impact of Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) failures on patient safety and clinical care.

In July 2025, the Royal College of Physicians and RCGP Cymru Wales publicly warned about patient delays linked to failures in NHS Wales digital systems. Clinicians across Wales are dealing daily with the consequences of systems that do not work, do not integrate, and do not meet the needs of patients or staff. The Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Wales has described the NHS Wales App as "mired in delay, non-delivery."

DHCW was escalated to Level 4 — Targeted Intervention — in April 2026 — the highest escalation ever applied to a non-health-board NHS body in Wales. Despite this, the same leadership team remains in place. Meanwhile, 85–90% of what is said at DHCW board meetings is deleted from the published minutes before the public can see them.

What concerns me further is the treatment of those who have raised the alarm. At least two senior technologists have reportedly been dismissed after raising concerns about failures within DHCW. As far back as 2018, the Public Accounts Committee described DHCW's predecessor as the "antithesis of open." Staff who raise concerns lose their positions — every documented time.

I would like to know:

  1. What will this government do to ensure that the failures at DHCW are not putting patients at risk?
  2. Will you support independent clinical oversight of NHS Wales digital programmes?
  3. England's NHS App has 39 million users. Wales's is years behind. Do you support replacing DHCW's leadership with executives recruited for proven technology delivery?
  4. Will you establish an independent Freedom to Speak Up Guardian — as Scotland and England already have?

The people who use and rely on these systems every day — clinicians and patients alike — deserve better. Further documented evidence is available at carenhs.org.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely, [Your full name] [Your full address]

Tips for Writing an Effective Letter

Drawing on parliamentary guidance and campaign best practice:

  • Use your own words wherever possible. MSs and their staff can spot form letters immediately. A personal letter — even a short one — carries far more weight than a templated one.
  • Include your full name and postal address. MSs prioritise correspondence from constituents. Without an address, your letter may be deprioritised or not responded to at all.
  • Be respectful but firm. You are writing to an elected representative, not lodging a complaint. State the facts clearly and ask direct questions.
  • Ask a specific question that requires a response. "What are you doing about X?" is harder to ignore than a general expression of concern. Questions create an obligation to reply.
  • Keep it concise. One to two pages is ideal. MSs receive a high volume of correspondence — a focused letter is more likely to be read in full and acted upon.
  • Follow up if you do not receive a response within two weeks. A polite follow-up email referencing your original letter is entirely appropriate. If you still receive no response, you can escalate to the Senedd's Standards Commissioner.
  • Keep a copy of everything. Save your letter and any response you receive. If your MS engages meaningfully, acknowledge it. If they do not, that silence is itself evidence of where their priorities lie.

After You Write

If you receive a response from your MS that contains commitments, assurances, or information about DHCW, consider sharing it with us at carenhs@carenhs.org. Published responses — with your consent — help build a public record of which representatives are engaging with this issue and which are not.

If your MS raises the matter in the Senedd or in committee, we will track and publish that engagement on this site.

The Campaign for Responsible Leadership in NHS Wales is independent and non-partisan. We encourage constituents to write to their representatives regardless of party affiliation. Accountability is not a party-political issue.