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Architecture Principles

Architecture principles are fundamental rules and guidelines that inform and support the way we design and develop technology solutions across NHS Wales. They help ensure consistency, promote best practices, and align our technology decisions with organisational goals. They must be adopted when building and procuring technical solutions.

Our principles are developed and approved by the DHCW Technical Design Authority (TDA).

Principles apply across various contexts, technologies, and systems and are stable over time, even as specific technologies or situations change.

Our principles help us make consistent choices when faced with new or ambiguous situations where detailed rules may not exist or apply. They provide a 'compass' rather than a detailed 'map'.

To ensure that digital systems applications and services are aligned to health and care strategy, complying with these principles should form part of the governance for technical solutions, alongside architectural decision records and defined interoperability standards.

The principles are a guide for decision making, there will be circumstances where a trade-off needs to be made between strict adherence with the principles and other considerations.

The rationale for not complying with the principles should be documented, for example through an architectural decision record. To the greatest extent possible, there should be an understanding of the route to compliance, and a target timetable to compliance.

These principles have been derived from the NHS England Architecture Principles January 2021 v4. They also reflect the Digital Service Standards for Wales published by the Centre for Digital Public Services.

Approved Principles

The following principles have been formally reviewed and approved by the DHCW Technical Design Authority (TDA):

Principles Under Development

The following principles are currently being developed and reviewed. While not yet formally approved, they provide valuable guidance in their respective areas:

Using These Principles

These principles should be:

  • Referenced when making architectural decisions
  • Used to evaluate proposed solutions
  • Considered during system design and development
  • Referenced in Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)

If you need to deviate from these principles, document your rationale in an ADR and seek appropriate approval through the Governance Process.

Contributing

If you'd like to suggest changes to existing principles or propose new ones, please Create an Issue and raise your proposal through the appropriate channels.