Essay 1:7 – A brief history of APEX and UHS Apps, 2011-2024

Principia Medicinae Digitalis Sotoniensis
Essays on the Evolution of the UHS Clinical Data Estate 1980 -2024

Lead Contributor: Dave Waghorn
Principal IT Systems Developer, Digital Developments, UHS Apps and UHS Digital

Edited By David Rew 10th October 2024

Publication Plan 

The essays which comprise this series will be made available in the first instance on my professional website, https://www.wessexsurgical.co.uk as downloadable PDF documents
for review, comment and as a basis for further contributions. They will be amended, updated and supplementary as necessary and as any new material becomes available. All those colleagues with knowledge and experience of the UHS digital programme are
welcome to contribute, by communication with me through david.rew@wessexsurgical.co.uk.
Once the project is as complete as is achievable, final copies of each of the essays will be submitted to the University of Southampton ePrint server for formal publication.

Copyright
The copyright of this collection is invested in Mr David Anthony Rew as the originator of the project, editor, principal author and compiler of the collection of essays. The content of each essay is made available on a Creative Commons Version 2 CC BY basis, under which Licensees may only copy, distribute, display, perform and make derivative works and remixes based on it on the basis of Full Attribution, including formal Citation where appropriate in books and academic publications. Full acknowledgement is given to all contributors to the written work
at appropriate points in the text.

Essay 1:7 The Oracle APEX story by Dave Waghorn

Dave Waghorn Introduces Himself

I studied for my maths degree at the University of Southampton, where I developed an interest in logic, algorithms, programming, mathematical modelling and simulation. This led me to seeking a career in software development on graduation, but my career was to take a slightly different path. I worked with a temp agency for a couple of years. My first permanent job was with Southern Water, where my role involved the management of safety certificates for equipment at all the water supply and treatment works and pumping stations. I ended up developing some software to run the team's antiquated flatbed scanner and effectively automated most of my job.

18 months later, I secured my first graduate job, working in the NHS for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Workforce Development Confederation. My primary role was as a workforce planning analyst and again I found myself developing software to automate many of the processes and manage our data. I moved on to the national Workforce Review Team (WRT) as a data modeller, where I took on more software development projects and made my first foray into web application development. The WRT was eventually privatised, and I sought a role back within the NHS, which is how I joined University Hospital Southampton as an information technologist - and again ended up being a software developer!

To view the full 44 page essay, download PDF.