Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Suffolk Primary Care Trust have deployed a new voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system to be used with a new Cisco unified communications system provided by Cisilion.
The new integrated network will operate across the NHS N3 network – the NHS’s private network – linking 200 hospitals, clinics and GP practices. The VoIP implementation, in which voice and data traffic is carried across a unified communications network, is thought to be one of the first over N3.
The trust and PCT decided to invest in the new system as part of a move to a new HQ. They asked Suffolk Support Services to investigate ways of doing this and VoIP was recommended. Suffolk Support Services’ technical programme manager, Nick Rackham, told E-Health Insider: “The system was designed from the ground up. We are moving to one single converged solution, as envisaged in the strategy of the national programme. We wanted a system that could cope with the high usage amongst the two trusts, where other systems had failed and one that would allow staff to be more mobile and nearer to patients. VoIP was the best solution for this.”
Connecting for Health and N3 announced the devleopment of a series of VoIP services on the N3 network in January. Rackham says the Suffolk trusts are the first to go-live with the technology.
Suffolk Support Services were fortunate that both Cisilion, Cisco’s local deployment partners, and the BT N3 team were based nearby to their new headquarters, so they could easily work together on completing the project.
“We have been working very closely with the architects on the construction and were fortunate that we were all within such close proximity. Since late 2005, we have been working on creating a system that would meet our needs and ensuring it was resilient enough before implementation. The end product is great because it does exactly what it says on the tin,” Rackham added.
Using the system, doctors, community nurses and child health visitors will be accessible via their own direct dial numbers, making it simpler and easier for them to work from any location.
Significant cost savings are projected from reducing the cost of internal calls in Suffolk and with other NHS organisations outside the region via N3, and by replacing the number and types of telephone systems scattered around the region with a single system integrated with the existing data network.
Further savings are expected from the Cisco unified communications system making centralised management easier and reducing the need for on-site engineer visits.
Rackham said: “A reliable and flexible telephone system such as the Cisco unified communications system is crucial to providing an effective healthcare service, especially as Suffolk is making health services more mobile and much more accessible to the community.
“The beauty of working together with Cisco and Cisilion is having two highly professional organisations to help us provide the community with a reliable and cost-effective communications infrastructure which we can develop as healthcare demands change. They are also working hard to ensure the project continues to run to time and budget.”
The Cisco system is being deployed to around 4,000 NHS healthcare and administration staff at locations such as health clinics, care homes and NHS management headquarters in the region.
Some of Suffolk’s 103 newer general practitioner surgeries are also being connected to the system, with the other GPs expected to be connected over the next few years.
The same system will also be used to manage communications in the Suffolk PCT Silver Command Centre, a command-and-control facility to coordinate emergency services in the event of a major incident.
Rackham added: “It’s a great system because it works. It meets the specification requirements of a very rural part of the country, where day in, day out we have people working in different working locations and communication is paramount. It is one extension for life and the upgrades and local funds spent have been well worth it. I would strongly recommend other trusts invest in the system.”
Cisco UK’s head of healthcare, Terry Espiner, said: “Healthcare institutions like the Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and the Suffolk Primary Care Trust want to provide patients with a consistent and constantly improving level of care. The aim is to provide an integrated service where all levels of care are connected, from family doctor to specialist.
“This means having the infrastructure and communication systems such as Cisco Unified Communications to link up the various departments across different care institutions so that healthcare professionals and their patients can communicate and can share information at every stage.”
Cisilion’s managing director, Roger Paul, added: “We have worked closely with the trust over the last 18 months to ensure that each step of this extensive technology upgrade has delivered on the prime objective of supporting the best possible patient care whilst minimising operating overheads. The success of this programme should give other trusts the confidence to consider the migration of their voice infrastructure.”
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