Health and Social Care Network connections should be available before the end of the year, but a report to NHS Digital’s board warns that the vital digital infrastructure project is “in doubt”.
After years of delays, there are signs of progress on HSCN, the set of secure networks for NHS and social care organisations that will replace the ageing N3 network, the contract for which expires in March 2017.
However, a report to NHS Digital board in September still listed the project as “amber/red”, meaning delivery was “in doubt”, with “urgent action needed to ensure significant risks and issues are managed”.
Earlier this month, NHS Digital informed the market that it will soon be tendering for £12 million network peer exchanging service for the HSCN. The service is described as a “key supply chain component” that will connect HSCN network providers.
The organisation has also been holding HSCN workshops throughout England this month, letting NHS and social care organisations know what is needed to prepare for the switch.
A NHS Digital presentation on HSCN, published this month, said organisation should “expect see certified HSCN services emerging during second half of 2016”.
However, a timeline for when organisations will actually start migrating to HSCN connections doesn’t start until June next year, after the existing N3 network contract expires.
To bridge this gap, a “transitional network” would also be set-up “to support service continuity post expiry of N3”, the presentation said.
“We will migrate services off this TN [transitional network] over the course of three to four years in a phased/waved approach.”
In a statement to Digital Health News, an NHS Digital spokeswoman said the previous target to have connections available by summer 2016 been pushed back to autumn to “ensure that we get the standard just right and ensure it is supported by industry”.
A HSCN standard for network suppliers should be concluded in October, after which they will need to be accredited. However, the first NHS organisation is not expected to actually sign a HSCN connection agreement with a supplier until early 2017.
The amber/red status was based on a review in June and reflected the complexity and large scale of the migration, the spokeswoman said.
“NHS Digital is confident that the programme will deliver its strategic objectives of supporting better integration of health and care at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”
Organisations that did not move off N3 by March 2017 would continue to received network service under the existing terms until they chose to migrate to a HSCN network.
“From April 2017, NHS Digital will be supporting organisations who have bought services from the N3 framework to migrate to the new HSCN arrangements.”
A replacement for N3 has been in development for year, with the original ten-year contract with BT due to end in April 2014.
Instead, the BT contract was extended by a further three years after no successor was found. In response, NHS Digital (then HSCIC) opted for an integrated network of many suppliers, called the HSCN, rather than single supplier replacement.
The plan was to create a more flexible marketplace of certified network suppliers, which meet the HSCN security and interoperability standard, gave providers more freedom to pick suppliers, and provided better integration between health and social care.
HSCN has also adopted a different funding model than N3, with provider given funding to deal directly with a accredited network supplier of their choice or pool their resources to create regional contracts.