About Health Technology Wales
Health Technology Wales (HTW) is a national body working to improve the quality of care in Wales. We collaborate with partners across health, social care and the technology sectors to ensure an all-Wales approach. We are funded by Welsh Government and hosted within NHS Wales, but independent of both.
Our remit covers any technology or model of care and support in health and social care that isn’t a medicine. For health, this could include medical devices, diagnostics, procedures and psychological therapies. For social care, this could include equipment, or different models for supporting families, children, adults and the workforce.
Our work currently focuses on three key areas:
Identification
We undertake ‘horizon scanning’ to identify upcoming technologies or models of care and support that are expected to have a major impact on future health and social care in Wales and are responsive to the needs and interests of service users, health and social care providers and technology partners across Wales.
We also support technology innovation and development in Wales by acting as an initial contact point for technology developers.
Responsive to the needs of service users, health and social care providers and technology developers across Wales.
Appraisal
We assess non-medicine health and social care technologies and models of care and support, and issue independent, authoritative guidance based on the best available evidence and expertise. We appraise technologies throughout their lifecycle, from innovation to obsolescence.
Our work informs commissioning by NHS Wales and in social care and supports decision makers to make evidence-informed decisions on both technology investments and disinvestments.
Collaborative working with people across the health, social care and technology sectors.
Adoption
We aim to improve the quality of health and social care in Wales, by assessing the value and optimising the use of clinically- and cost-effective technologies and models of care and support. We monitor the adoption of our guidance, and guidance from other organisations, across all of the local health boards in Wales and encourage adoption of our guidance in social care. This not only includes uptake of new health and social care technologies, but also disinvestment in current technologies that are found to be less effective or obsolete.
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Authoritative guidance to promote use of health and social care technologies and models of care and support that offer the most benefit for the people of Wales.
