Collaborative working in Croydon Primary Care Trust

The last few years has seen the implementation of the most far-reaching programme of reform in the history of the NHS - its aim, to put patients and front-line staff at the heart of the health service.Key to this 'shift in the balance of power' has been the emergence of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). To provide a faster, more responsive service to its patients, Croydon Primary Care Trust was looking to reform its voice and data infrastructure.

Croydon Primary Care Trust provides a wide range of community health services, including nursing, health visiting, therapies, child health, family planning and community dentistry. Working with GPs, pharmacists, dentists and opticians, the Trust delivers primary care to some 330,000 residents throughout Croydon.

To enable collaborative working and IT equipment and software to run at their full potential, Croydon Primary Care Trust turned to Telewest Business. With a working relationship that spans nearly a decade, Telewest could not only demonstrate a track record of best value but also had the infrastructure in place to launch a cohesive voice and data solution.

"Early experience had shown that we could work with Telewest Business," says John Toole, Head of IT at the Trust. "We inherited Centrex through one of our hospitals but it made sense to develop a telephony system that had already been tried and tested."

With minimal capital investment and no ongoing maintenance, upgrade or management costs associated with PABX suppliers, Centrex is an attractive offering for PCTs looking to improve patient care and achieve best value for money.

"With Centrex we have a faster, more reliable, 'joined up' telephony system in place," explains John Toole. "Previously, if a customer contacted the wrong department they were given the correct number and asked to redial. Now calls can be transferred between sites within the Trust. Moreover, costs are kept low as internal calls are free of charge."

But for Croydon Primary Care Trust, telephony was just one part of the communications remedy. To meet the government's ICT National Agenda, from internet and email access to the running of bandwidth-rich applications such as Integrated Care Records Services (ICRS) or pathology archiving systems, the Trust needed to modernise its current network. Telewest created a Wide Area Network across twelve of the Trust's primary sites, upgrading the network bandwidth from 64 kbps to 10 Mbps.

"Capacity was a problem in the past," says John Toole. "When the system was slow, people were inconvenienced and staff became frustrated. Now with higher bandwidth we are able to maximise equipment and software, and reap the benefits."

With higher bandwidth capacity links the Trust is looking at different telemedicine applications to enhance patient care. For example, the technology is already in place where cameras can transmit data from their walk-in areas to A&E, to provide remote diagnosis.

Telewest Business is one of the few telecoms companies that provides specialist public sector teams. Speaking the language and understanding the legislation and issues faced by health professionals, Telewest is better able to deliver the best solution. The Telewest Croydon Primary Care Trust team includes a dedicated account manager, service manager and project manager, working proactively out in the field, not only with the Trust but also alongside network consultants.

"We have a good relationship with Telewest Business and the project presented no major problems. The Telewest team worked closely with our consultants and has a good understanding of the health sector."

The Trust will continue to work with Telewest in the rollout of telephony to a further seven sites and, in the future, aim to increase the network capacity to meet the next generation of bandwidth-rich medical data, such as X-ray transmission.