BELFAST Health and Social Care Trust has chosen BT as single supplier of voice and data communications in a five-year deal worth up to £20 million, the healthcare group said yesterday.
BT will provide 17,000 users with innovative communications technology and an infrastructure that will support the re-provisioning of healthcare across Northern Ireland.
The deal follows the recent Compton Review of Health and Social Care in the Province which outlined the need to push care into the community, a strategy requiring the effective use of communications infrastructure to work.
Peter Russell, head of BT’s NI Public Sector and Major Accounts, said the company’s ability to deliver on this vision and also drive significant cost efficiencies was key to winning the contract.
“BT has been working with the NHS in the UK for many years, building a long-term relationship based on understanding the challenges and objectives around healthcare,” he said.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work in partnership with the Belfast Trust, bringing the very latest communications technologies to bear that will over time hopefully transform the way healthcare is provided in Northern Ireland.”
Paul Duffy, of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, said: “We chose BT to develop our next generation of voice and data communications services that will greatly enhance healthcare services to our 340,000 patients and clients.
“We look forward to working with BT on delivering real benefits to staff and patients, and facilitating new ways of communication and teamwork.”
BT won the tender with a two-phased strategy that will deliver IP Telephony and a suite of Unified Communication and collaboration capabilities within 18 months. In the first phase, BT will assume its role as single supplier, consolidating voice and data services.
In the longer-term there are plans to extend a medical asset tracking application over the wireless network, and even the possibility of making unified communications available across the trust and potentially to patients in their home, connecting them to their carers more quickly and efficiently.
