Lessons learned and current issues

The project to implement the Mid Cheshire network was overall a success. Staff feel that they have the right devices for their jobs, and most are satisfied with the solution. It’s important to recognise though that the solutions that were implemented didn’t resolve all connectivity issues.

4G SIM connections

While the staff love the flexibility of having the option of using a 4G connection when on patient visits, it doesn’t always work. Cheshire is quite a rural area and although some of the main town areas do have good coverage, there are many blackspots where a connection cannot be achieved.

It’s a difficulty for us to provide a solution for this, as the mobile phone infrastructure is not within the control of the NHS. Where possible, when looking at community systems, we are now building into business cases that software must have offline functionality. We have recently developed a maternity system business case, and offline working was a requirement for our community midwifes.

Battery life

The battery life of the mobile devices we purchased can be variable. Initially, when deployed, 8 hours battery life was achievable, however over time the batteries degrade, and the uptime is reduced.

For the main bulk of staff, we have docking stations and charges in the main hubs, but for staff that are mostly mobile in patients houses this does present us with issues. We are continuing to work with our suppliers on this issue, and where staff flag issues as the equipment is leased, we can look to replace.

Costs

Don’t underestimate the complexity and cost of implementing a large-scale network. When Mid Cheshire wrote the business case to onboard community services, the IT network infrastructure wasn’t really considered. If the CSU didn’t work with Mid Cheshire in configuring sites, the cost of on boarding community services would have been significantly higher.

Collaboration

Collaboration is essential. Building a relationship with the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) and with the CSU proved to be the key to the success of the project. Working together on technical solutions with the help of 3rd parties enabled us to keep costs down for everyone and provide network infrastructures which were physically shared but logically separated.

IT support and corporate systems

Initially, over the first year the IT support and infrastructure was outsourced to the CSU to maintain the setup which East Cheshire had in place. This, on reflection, wasn’t ideal as the main corporate systems which were used at the trust were not available from the CSU’s network. The clinical incident management system and intranet couldn’t be accessed easily and staff felt isolated within the organisation.

For further projects we have undertaken we have always now tried to ensure the network is in place prior to staff transferring over.