Press Release
Carelink, the UK healthcare managed infrastructure and network services business of Piksel Ltd, announced that it has successfully migrated its Managed Cloud/Infrastructure as a Service customers to the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN), the replacement network for N3.
The migration to HSCN involved seventy customer organisations that deliver round the clock solutions to the health and social care sector, at a local and national level, so minimal disruption to services was essential. The process itself, designed and pioneered by Carelink, was carried out smoothly, without any disruption to services. Completion of this work represents a significant milestone for Carelink in the roll out of its HSCN connected services.
Carelink was one of the first wave of suppliers to achieve HSCN Stage 2 compliance to become a Consumer Network Services Provider (CNSP) in February this year. Prior to that, the company was accepted onto the Crown Commercial Services procurement framework for HSCN services, RM3825, in November 2017, having achieved HSCN Stage 1 in August last year.
Now fully compliant, Carelink leads the way in delivering HSCN connectivity to new and existing customers, providing a reliable, cost efficient, flexible way for UK health and social care organisations to access and exchange electronic data as well as taking advantage of new and innovative technologies.
Clevermed, a medical software company and Carelink customer since 2012, relies on hosted infrastructure services and connectivity to the N3 network, now HSCN, to support its BadgerNet Maternity and Neonatal live care record services. Commenting on the migration, Peter Badger, Managing Director at Clevermed, said: “The move to HSCN is a game changer for our business – it promises a dramatic increase in speed and bandwidth of our BadgerNet applications. With the N3 connection we were constantly relying on Carelink to try to load balance during peak traffic times such as the routine patient clinics and ward rounds. HSCN connectivity ensures this is a problem of the past and will make a real impact on patient care in over 220 NHS hospitals throughout the UK.
Our long-standing relationship with Carelink, an industry leader in this space, means we’re ahead of our peers in adopting HSCN. The team’s unrivalled experience and professionalism has ensured a smooth, swift and pain free transition away from N3 onto the new and improved network.”
Darren Turner, General Manager at Carelink, said: “We’ve spent the last 12 months working towards HSCN compliance stages 1 and 2 and gaining access to the HSCN procurement framework so we’re thrilled to see our efforts come to fruition. With over 20 years’ in the healthcare sector, we have grown a loyal and supportive customer base – many of whom have followed us on our journey from NHSnet to N3 and now HSCN. We’re therefore pleased to ensure that our customers are some of the industry’s first providers to gain access to HSCN and the associated benefits of improved service delivery and network performance.”
Michael Bowyer, industry lead for the creation of the Obligations Framework for HSCN and Chairman at Innopsis, said: “It’s great to see HSCN become a reality for end users – the health and social care organisations – and encouraging to see companies like Carelink embrace the transition away from N3. There have been some misconceptions that the migration process would be complex or painful but Carelink has proved that need not be the case.
We’ve long held the view that smaller businesses are more flexible and agile in driving NHS innovation – the reason for the birth of HSCN in the first place – Carelink has shown that to be true. The enthusiasm to embrace the new network from both a supplier and end user perspective can only be applauded.”
