Sample Task: Nanthouse Surgery

This is the WJEC sample task published in the specification. You do not have to use this brief — you choose your own real-world problem — but it shows the scope and depth expected from an A Level candidate. Use it as a yardstick when sizing up your own project.

The scenario

Nanthouse Surgery is a busy General Practice based in a health centre in a small town. The practice currently has three doctors and two practice nurses, a practice manager and two receptionists.

A large housing development has recently been built near the surgery and there has been a significant increase in the number of patients registered with the practice. The extra workload has forced the doctors and the practice manager to reconsider the way in which the practice functions.

The practice manager is keen to look at time-saving solutions such as telephone and online consultations. These consultations would benefit both the doctors and the patients with diagnoses being provided without the patient having to travel to the surgery or the doctor visiting the patient at home.

One of the doctors has an interest in the use of complementary therapies and feels that many patients would benefit from such therapies rather than repeated appointments with the doctors. She is considering the introduction of therapies such as acupuncture, nutrition, massage, aromatherapy, counselling and reflexology. Patients will have to pay for the complementary therapy treatments.

The practice has decided to go ahead with both new approaches.

• Initially all remote consultations will be online (so the doctor can see rashes, inflammation, etc.).
• Only two therapists will be involved at the start — an acupuncturist and a nutritionist. The range will expand over time.

The booking system must be updated to handle this. The practice manager is particularly concerned about what patient data the complementary therapists can see — it must be relevant to the treatment, not the full medical history.

What the system must do

Administrative staff must be able to:

• Enter and store personal details of each patient as they join the practice
• Add more complementary therapists
• Book appointments for patients, including:
  • Appointments with a doctor or nurse in the surgery
  • Online consultations with a doctor
  • Therapy sessions with one of the therapists
• Cancel appointments, online consultations and therapy sessions
• Send reminder emails or texts to patients on the day before their appointment
• Send letters, emails or texts to patients who miss an appointment
• Keep all sensitive information safely and securely
• Calculate the costs of complementary treatments
• Prepare individual invoices for complementary treatments

Doctors and nurses must be able to:

• Read patients’ medical histories
• Enter details of consultations and medicines prescribed
• Record referrals to hospitals or other services
• Record any tests needed (e.g. blood tests)

Complementary therapists must be able to:

• Read only the patient’s medical records related to the treatment
• Record any treatments given to the patient
• Record the cost of each treatment session

What this brief tells you about scope

If you’re choosing your own problem, hold it up against this one:

• Multiple user roles with different permissions (admin, doctor/nurse, therapist) — your project should have similarly distinct user types.
• Multiple related entities (patients, appointments, therapists, treatments, invoices) — at least four or five linked data structures.
• Several different processes: bookings, cancellations, automated reminders, calculations, invoices, role-based access. A “high-tariff” problem in the top mark band must demand this kind of breadth.
• Real privacy / data security concerns — there is a genuine reason the system exists, not just a CRUD-against-a-spreadsheet exercise.
• Stakeholders you can interview — there is an end user (the practice manager) who can give requirements and feedback on the prototype.

If your chosen project is much smaller than this, you will cap yourself out of the top band on Discussion (“substantial problem with sufficient scope”) before you’ve even started building.