Virgin Media Business has announced it will supply Sirona with 4G mobile connectivity, in partnership with EE, to support the delivery of home healthcare to patients across the area.
Siron serves the people of B&NES, South Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas.
The contract between Virgin Media Business and Sirona will enable healthcare workers around the country to access patient records remotely and work more flexibly in the community.
The deal, worth half a million pounds, is part of a complete upgrade to Sirona’s ICT infrastructure which will support the introduction of an innovative range of telehealth services, including video-as-service content to help patients manage long-term conditions and remote speech and language therapy for stroke survivors via video conference in their homes.
The contract will see over 1000 Sirona employees connected to 4G mobile connectivity, through EE, with devices and data plans tailored to their needs, including 4G enabled Samsung 4S mini handsets.
These devices will be connected to the new Wide Area Network currently being installed by Virgin Media Business to connect the health company’s 40 sites around the UK, enabling its staff to work flexibly across key locations and from their patients’ homes.
The new technology will revolutionise the way Sirona operates, and will underpin the introduction of Unified Communications and next-generation IP telephony to support collaboration and information sharing across the network to improve patient care.
Gerry Arthurs, director of public sector, Virgin Media Business, said: “Companies like Sirona are redefining the way that healthcare is delivered, and new technology means connectivity has never been more important. The business grade mobile service coupled with the latest UC tools will allow Sirona to continue innovating across all its services, saving the taxpayer money and improving lives for patients and their families around the UK.”
Under the new deal mobile connectivity and IT services will be charged on a per-seat basis, making it easier for Sirona to predict costs when bidding for new health contracts.
Richard Tarring, Sirona’s Commercial Director, said: “One of the advantages of being a social enterprise is the opportunity it gives us to work more innovatively and respond more quickly to new initiatives as they become available.
“Releasing as much time as possible for our practitioners to provide face to face care and ensuring they have the right access to information when they need it are important objectives for us and the use of digital technology is a crucial part of helping us to achieve this.
“This connectivity boost is one of the best investments in our future we could have made, and we’re excited about the new services and improvements it will enable.”
