Innovative communication technologies allow the public to live and work faster than ever before. Yet the more they live in an information-driven economy, the more they expect public services to be more responsive and effective, too. As one ambulance service recently discovered, cloud computing holds the key by making it easy, safe and cost-effective for NHS organisations to deliver technology-enabled services. Paul Curran reports.<\/p>\n
With some 4000 employees, 58 ambulance stations and 864 vehicles to provide emergency medical care for a population of 5.3 million across 5,000 square miles, West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) NHS Trust has been recognised as \u2018Ambulance Service of the Year\u2019 no fewer than four times since its formation in 2006. Indeed, during 2010-11, it was the only trust to achieve all four national performance standards.<\/p>\n
However, a lack of standardisation across multiple IT systems following the amalgamation of several services was making it difficult for staff to communicate and collaborate effectively. For example, WMAS was running three instances of Exchange, none of which was large enough to accommodate the needs of the whole organisation, according to head of IM&T, Phil Collins.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe absence of a common email platform meant our employees lacked a shared address book with which to locate one another,<\/em>\u201d he says. \u201cWe considered our options and recognised that we required collaboration tools, rather than just a replacement email system.”<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe needed to consolidate our systems and get everybody onto a uniform platform as quickly and easily as possible,<\/em>\u201d he says. \u201cWhilst we knew that moving to the cloud would help us overcome our problems, we also needed to maintain the highest level of security around our patient data.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Collins says the answer came in the form of Microsoft partner IMGROUP, who could deliver WMAS\u2019 requirement for security, flexibility and completeness by combining cloud services with on-premise applications. \u201cBy moving us to Microsoft\u2019s\u00a0Office 365<\/a>\u00a0cloud service and SharePoint 2010 collaboration platform, they enabled us to simplify, consolidate and manage our communications at a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n With over five million licenced users, Office 365 combines secure cloud versions of Microsoft\u2019s familiar communications and collaboration products:<\/p>\n It cuts the cost and resource needed to maintain servers and software in-house, whilst giving WMAS employees the same rich experience online they\u2019ve come to expect from their desktop Office programs.<\/p>\n Office 365 works seamlessly with the programs WMAS staff already use. In one simple service, they now have reliable, use-anywhere access to ambulance service tools like the intranet, email, online meetings and calendars. Additionally, they also benefit from the full suite of collaboration tools like instant messaging, voice\/video\/web conferencing and document management and sharing \u2013 all via most web enabled devices and using any popular browser.<\/p>\n WMAS staff can now collaborate quickly and securely with both colleagues and other emergency services, for example:<\/p>\n \u201cWith staff spread across the West Midlands, we now have a platform that will potentially save us time and money and enable better team working,<\/em>\u201d says Collins. \u201cFor instance, Lync\u2019s videoconferencing and \u2018presence\u2019 features mean that staff will potentially travel less and therefore use their time more efficiently. Not least, Office 365 gives us built-in scalability and disaster recovery to consolidate and manage our growing volume of data \u2013 all for a predictable price.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n With all these benefits, healthcare organisations should be queuing up to deploy Cloud services. The challenge thus far has been one of trust: with data protection issues never far from the headlines, it\u2019s no surprise that many Trusts are jittery about externalising data. But WMAS is the first ambulance service to negotiate a contract under the\u00a0G-Cloud Framework<\/a>, part of the Government Procurement Services\u2019 commitment to see public cloud services account for 50% of new public ICT spending by 2015.<\/p>\n By creating a marketplace of cloud services called CloudStore, IMGROUP\u2019s head of Office 365 Sales, Marcel Bonfrer, says Whitehall has made it easier for suppliers and NHS purchasing departments to work together. \u201cIt means they can now order ICT products and services direct from accredited suppliers with confidence; without having to go through a long-winded tender process,<\/em>\u2019\u201d he says. Under the G-Cloud regime, suppliers are pre-vetted into a Framework Agreement which features mandatory assurance checks on a wide range of technical and fiscal criteria.<\/p>\nConsolidation and savings<\/h2>\n
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G-Cloud trailblazers<\/h2>\n