Experts have welcomed the health service's £35m e-mail plan as the
basis for the Government's planned NHS reforms.
The NHS Information Authority (NHSIA) has chosen EDS as the
preferred supplier in a deal to replace more than 3,000 mail
servers in hospitals and surgeries.
NHSIA officials have also confirmed that a staff directory will be
developed. The combined e-mail and directory services are expected
to be among the largest in the world.
Murray Bywater, managing director of IT healthcare specialist
Silicon Bridge Research, said, "This is a good thing. In order to
run the NHS as one organisation with quite strong central direction
combined with delegated powers, it is necessary to be able to
communicate rapidly."
Developing ambitious technology strategies in an organisation as
large as the NHS, which has over a million employees, has often
proved a difficult task. Nevertheless, Bywater believes that the
e-mail service offers a number of potential benefits. "It opens up
the capability of exchanging information and of easier access to
knowledge bases and reference sources that will become more
important in the future," he said. It will also be used as a
clinical e-mail service for the NHS.
The strategy could also revolutionise the way that the health
service operates on a day-to-day basis, according to Bywater. He
said, "Because [e-mail] is all electronic you are able to
prioritise e-mails and set up worklists, for example." This is very
difficult, if not impossible, to do with existing paper systems, he
said.
Officials have confirmed that the new service will run across the
NHS network, NHSNet, and the Internet using a secure connection.
Bywater acknowledged the importance of security in building the new
system but warned that it must not be allowed to hinder the
roll-out of the wider e-mail strategy. He said, "Security is a
major concern but it should not be allowed to stand in the way of
progress."
A lot of work has been done in this area by the NHSIA so it has a
good idea of what is required, he added.
The deal will play a critical part in helping the health service to
meet the Department of Health's target to give all NHS staff access
to e-mail by March 2003.