19/02/2004

BT awarded £530m NHS broadband contract

BT has been awarded a £530 million seven-year contract to provide and manage a broadband network to link all NHS organisations in England, it has been announced today.

The proposed New National Network, known as N3, should provide a fast, reliable network on which to run the new IT systems being delivered by the National Programme for IT. The network will also provide the technology to significantly speed up the transfer of key clinical data between NHS organisations. In addition, it will enable much faster electronic transmission of visual data, such as video and x-rays.

The move will make the NHS the first major user of significant broadband capacity in the public sector, the health department said. The number of sites served will be increased from 10,000 - under the current NHSnet contract - to all 18,000 NHS locations and sites.

The N3 scheme could save the NHS up to £900 million over seven years, when compared to the cost of procuring the same capacity through the existing NHSnet contracts.

Health Minister John Hutton said: "The New National Network will play a crucial role in the day-to-day business of the NHS, which currently exchanges millions of items of electronic data every day. For NHS doctors, it will mean they can be confident that key patient data will be available securely and reliably at the touch of a button."

Richard Granger, Director General of NHS IT, said that the N3 network was a "critical component" of the infrastructure required to modernise healthcare delivery.

The implementation of the system will begin in April.

(gmcg)

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