Trust is honoured at regional ceremony
LANCASHIRE and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust and its partners were honoured at the recently-held NHS in the North Excellence in Supply Awards 2019.
The Trust, along with the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System and the North West Shared Infrastructure Services, won the NHS Procurement Innovation Award.
The award recognises work that the Trust has undertaken in engaging partners to help deliver a new Health and Social
Care Network (HSCN) across the Lancashire Integrated Care System. The HSCN is a data network that allows health and care organisations to access and exchange electronic information, helping clinicians to deliver timelier care and a better patient experience.
The project was recognised not only of the considerable savings it has created for the NHS, the collaboration with wider public sector partners such as Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Fire and Rescue (LFR), and also the improvements in network performance, speed and security.
The project has improved connectivity across more than 300 NHS and LFR sites in Lancashire, as well as benefiting staff who work across different sites.
The new network underpins the healthcare systems that doctors and nurses use, and will deliver important improvements in performance as well as securing against future malware and cyber-attacks.
Stephen McGarry, Head of Procurement at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I’m very happy indeed.
“It’s nice to have your peers recognise the effort and endeavour you put in.
“We’ve collaborated to make something that’s actually change the landscape.
“This is a collaboration between the NHS and wider public sector bodies, and includes site from Lancashire Fire and Rescue and Lancashire County Council on the same network as
NHS services, clinics, GP practices and hospitals.
“We’ve put something in place that connects around 400 sites on a secure network and achieved around 60% in savings for those organisations in running and maintaining the work.”
Andrew Thompson, ICS operational digital lead, added: “What a fantastic project.
“The collaboration between the Lancashire and South Cumbria stakeholders was amazing throughout the whole procurement.
“The outcome will provide not only massive financial savings for the region but a future proofed network for the next five years.”
The awards were hosted by NHS Northern Customer Board and the Innovation Agency to celebrate the work of businesses, third sector organisations and the NHS in collaborating to deliver great patient care.
The awards are sponsored by the Innovation Agency, Health Innovation Manchester and Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network.