The N3 broadband service, provided by BT, has been certified as a Public Services Network.
N3 has more than 1.3m users across England and Scotland. It provides the foundation for many front-line clinical applications as well as voice, videoconferencing and mobility solutions.
BT powers the network and is the fifth provider to be awarded PSN certification in a process that took 11 months.
The PSN creates a ‘network of networks’ across the public sector allowing authorised users to access and share data securely.
Nick Earl, chief executive of N3 Service Provider, said BT aimed to get accredited before 1 April, as the transformation of the NHS will see a number of NHS employees transitioning to local government who will still need access to systems and applications connected by N3.
This could have been managed without PSN accreditation, but was now a much simpler process, he argued.
“As the transition starts on 1 April, users will still be able to access systems and continue doing their jobs regardless of whether they work for the NHS or local government,” explained Earl.
He said the certification aligned BT’s capabilities with the government’s IT strategy and protected the investment made in N3.
It also put the company in a good position to bid for the future N3 service as its contract runs out in March next year. The replacement service was known as N4, but is now referred to as ‘PSN for health’.
Earl said the future PSN would be different from N3, which was designed for the National Programme for IT in the NHS, as requirements had changed.
“We are trying to build that roadmap to link those things together to ensure that NHS services are protected, the investment is protected and from BT’s point of view it hopefully puts us in a reasonable position when the NHS is considering a replacement provider,” he added.
Matt Gadsby, N3SP technical advisor, said the certification allayed concerns of N3 users regarding what the move to PSN would mean for them.
“The heart of the N3 network has been certified as a Direct Network Service Provider and the processes and procedures and policies that BT use to run that infrastructure has also been certified,” he explained.
Jon Williams, PSN programme director in the Cabinet Office said N3’s accreditation was another major milestone for PSN.
“With its reach right across the NHS and to local community of interest networks, the joining of N3 into PSN brings the public sector closer towards the goal of cost efficient, adaptable, secure and cyber-assured common infrastructure,” he said.
“A PSN-accessible N3 is a vital step in allowing suppliers to the health market to offer new services and for greater local public service collaboration to be digitally enabled.”