High-speed telecoms from ntl:Telewest Business, part of the Virgin Media group, will be used to help power patient care at the NHS Redbridge Loxford Polyclinic in east London. The facility, the first of its kind in the capital, will use a high-speed network to share patient and operational information, and IP telephony to maintain cost-effective communication. Health and social care practitioners using the centre will be able to access images stored at Queens Hospital in nearby Romford. Services within the polyclinic will be able to maintain their direct dial call number, regardless of their location within the polyclinic.

Due to open on 15 June 2009, the 4,000 square metre polyclinic will provide approximately 50,000 Redbridge residents with improved access to GP services, health, social and community care professionals. Its 59 clinical rooms and eight community rooms for wellbeing groups will be open seven days a week, and contain two GP practices and a walk-in centre. Nearby practices will be able to refer patients to the centre for services such as dentistry, ultrasounds, blood tests and x-rays.

NHS Redbridge required a reliable IP telephony system that would enable the new polyclinic’s staff to maintain seamless contact throughout the facility and beyond. It also needed a resilient data network service with sufficient bandwidth to support demanding imaging applications such as picture archiving and communication system (PACS) and radiology information system (RIS). The Loxford Polyclinic is the first of five polyclinics planned to be built in Redbridge over the coming five years.
www.ntltelewestbusiness.co.uk