Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
Delivering essential network services to Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
The Client
The Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the UK's most successful healthcare organisations. It comprises five main hospitals: Southampton General Hospital, Royal South Hants Hospital, Princess Anne Hospital, Countess Mountbatten House and the Abbey Unit.
The Trust provides local hospital services to some 500,000 people living in Southampton and South West Hampshire, and specialist services such as neurosciences, cardiac services and children's intensive care to more than 3 million people in central southern England and the Channel Islands.
Every year the Trust's 6,500 staff treat more than 100,000 inpatients and day patients, including around 40,000 emergency admissions, see 340,000 people at outpatient appointments, and deal with around 85,000 cases in the Emergency Department. It is also a major centre for teaching and research in association with the University of Southampton and partners including the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research Campaign.
The Challenge
With such a large organisation covering multiple sites, the Trust faces many challenges in successfully operating its IT systems. Working closely with Logicalis has allowed the Trust to offload many of these challenges to its trusted partner over the years.
The Solution
Logicalis' relationship with the Trust started in 1993 with the implementation of a Corporate LAN infrastructure networking hospital sites in and around Southampton, using FDDI technology. The scope of the project included design, supply, installation, integration of network management, project management, training and maintenance.
In 1999 Logicalis won the opportunity to migrate the ageing FDDI infrastructure to a gigabit based network infrastructure providing a high speed, resilient campus backbone. The project was brought in, on time and within budget and has resulted in an ongoing relationship whereby Logicalis's expertise is used to assist the Corporate Information Services Department in ensuring the most cost-effective and efficient use and ongoing development of the network.
Project Successes and Benefits
As a result of this work Logicalis was awarded a seven-year contract to provide the Trust with network enhancements, cabling installation, maintenance and support. On-going project work has included extensive integration services, network management services, on-going maintenance and support, together with the implementation of in-theatre video-conferencing facilities that provide the Trust with a valuable tool for teaching medical students. The relationship is continuing with Logicalis remaining a trusted adviser, allowing the Trust's Corporate Information Services Department to remain focused on the delivery of services to users.
