TheMid
Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trustis upgrading its
existing networks and implementing high-performancewireless networksto deliver better
bedside care.
Affiniti has been appointed to provide and manage the new
IP-based infrastructure.
The 10-year contract will see Affiniti initially provide a
comprehensive managed data network at the Trust's Dewsbury
hospital, as well as to the two new hospitals currently being built
at Pinderfields and Pontefract.
The new wireless network will offer the potential for medical
staff to access test results at patients' bedsides - bringing up
results, X-rays and medical records in real-time, so doctors and
patients can look at them together quickly and easily.
With information at their fingertips, medical staff will save
time tracking down charts and details, enabling them to focus more
on caring for their patients.
The additional capacity provided by the network will also help
the trust ensure seamless use of large sensitive files, such as
X-rays and picture archives.
The advanced wireless network will also enable the Trust's
hospitals to use RFID
technology to track the location of critical and expensive
medical equipment across all its buildings.
The network will benefit the new hospitals when they open in
2010, but it is expected that the Dewsbury hospital will profit
from the technology as early as next year.
Simon Nahk, director of information management and technology
and performance at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said, "With
the confidence of a highly flexible, robust and shared data
network, the trust can plan for a paper-free future.
"This will result in the need for much less storage space which
costs money, staff time will be saved not having to chase
information or queue for PCs, and we will have increased security
for medical equipment because we can electronically tag and track
it."
The potential for integrating the telephone system with IT
systems to plan and schedule staff is another possibility the new
network will open up, said Nahk.
Affiniti's network solution provides both a fibre backbone and
the wireless capability.