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Norfolk health organisations benefit from high-speed network
NHS Norfolk and Norfolk Community Health and Care are providing staff with faster access to relevant information via a high speed network connecting 740,000 people in the Norfolk area. As a result, NHS staff will be able to administer care in the home to Norfolk’s geographically dispersed population.
NHS Norfolk is the Primary Care Trust for Norfolk responsible for commissioning NHS services in the region (excluding the Great Yarmouth area). A year after NHS Norfolk was formed in 2006 from the amalgamation of five Norfolk Primary Care Trusts, it moved into a new headquarters on the Broadland Business Park in Norwich.
Norfolk Community Health and Care is an organisation which provides a wide range of community-based services. With staff working from a number of sites, including patients’ homes and in community hospitals, they depend on the high-speed network to ensure they remain in touch and have access to patient records.
“The last five years has seen a major digitisation of healthcare and a rise in patient expectations,” said John Midgley, Assistant Director of Strategic and Operational IT at NHS Norfolk. “Coupled with major change within the organisation, this was putting a growing strain on our existing networks - we had to provide our staff with faster access to the right information. To do that we wanted a partner that understood our needs, could react quickly and put customer service first. Virgin Media Business gave us a network that spans the county, while also offering local support teams.”
NHS Norfolk and Norfolk Community Health and Care are using Virgin Media Business’ Ethernet VPN service to provide essential connections between its geographically spread sites, mobile workers and its headquarters. This is driving further cost savings, as internal calls between NHS Norfolk’s and Norfolk Community Health and Care’s headquarters are completely free, due to the introduction of Voice over IP technology, running across the network.
