Press Release
KCOM has secured a third contract to deliver cutting edge Health and Social Care Network connectivity in the UK.
The communications and IT services provider has been selected as the preferred bidder for the delivery of HSCN connectivity in the North East following completion of an Aggregated Procurement (AP) managed by NHS Digital on behalf of health and care organisations in the region. The business could be worth nearly £500,000.
Over the next three years KCOM will be providing HSCN connectivity to 10 health and social care customers in the North East of England providing 15 managed connections that will allow these organisations to share information and work more efficiently across a common, safe and reliable platform.
KCOM will now be working closely with the health and social care organisations that took part in the North East Aggregated Procurement (NEAP) process including Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, Teesside Hospice Care Foundation and South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council.
The news comes after it was announced KCOM had also secured preferred bidder status for HSCN delivery in two areas of London as part of the Once for London (OfL) AP, with a contract that could be worth up to £13.3m.
Iain Shearman, director of KCOM’s national network services business, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by NHS Digital to deliver HSCN services in the North East. This continues a winning streak for KCOM that shows health and social care organisations up and down the country trust KCOM to deliver these major network transformations.
“This latest award shows KCOM is making great strides as the go-to provider of connectivity and IT solutions in this exciting sector.
“We are now looking forward to working closely with health and care organisations in the North East as well as NHS Digital on making HSCN a success and delivering a great service to the public.”
KCOM became HSCN Stage 2 compliant earlier in the year after submitting a detailed design for the service and was able to demonstrate how its solution meets HSCN obligations following extensive testing.
HSCN replaces the outdated N3 network with a system designed to meet the requirements of an integrated and evolving health and social care sector.
It will enable greater collaboration between health and social care service providers, improve the ability to send and receive data securely between organisations, provide more cost-effective connectivity and help staff in health and care to work together across a standardised network.
HSCN will provide health and social care organisations with a more flexible platform that will enable them to adapt and grow the services they use in the future without any major implementation issues.
KCOM has been designing national customer networks with HSCN in mind for some time and has extensive experience in providing critical services to hospitals, clinical commissioning groups (CCG) and doctor’s surgeries through the N3 network.
• For more details about KCOM and HSCN visit https://connected.kcom.com/HSCN-microsite.html
