Knowledge Group wins NHS bid

Contracts A health care trust budgets for HP palmtops to provide nurses and care workers with remote access.

The Knowledge Group has won a bid to supply Hewlett Packard palmtoprses and care workers with remote access. computers to a North London NHS trust as part of a #2.5 million, six-year contract.

The Bristol software and services company will also manage an integrated voice and data network for the Barnet Healthcare Trust, as well as provide desktop network access, direct dial and voicemail services.

Andy Boyle, senior sales consultant at the Knowledge Group, said the network linked 1,300 health care staff in hospitals, clinics and daycare centres across North London. Armed with HP palmtops, district nurses and care workers visiting patients will be able to access patient data remotely from the network.

Boyle said the contract grew out of a relationship with the trust in handling cabling. The company beat other tenders for the data contract and faced only Siemens over the voice network.

Nigel Beresford, managing director at The Knowledge Group said staff will have swifter access to centralised information, including patient records, whether they are in the main hospital or out on call.

'We understand they are trying to do a hell of a lot with no money. A lot of the staff at The Knowledge Group were with ICL and understand the needs of government and healthcare. It's a model we want to move to other health care trusts,' Boyle added.

The system runs through a Cisco-based catalyst switches backbone to offer 10 Mb connectivity to 1,300 desktops and voicemail and direct dial features for 1,000 users.

The contract is a significant step for the trust, which did not have an IT department until late last year.