Health and Social Care Network

Last updated

The Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) is a standards-based network that replaced the N3 network in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. It went live in April 2017. Transition to the new network was completed by November 2020. [1]

Contents

History

NHSnet

NHSnet was a private wide area network service used by the NHS England. [2] It started operation in around 1995 [3]

NHSnet was managed jointly by BT and Cable & Wireless and was developed under the aegis of the NHS Information Authority. However the standards of service varied widely throughout the NHS due to different local practices and levels of equipment. NHSnet was succeeded by N3 in 2006. [4] It is sometimes referred to (by a sort of retrospective nomination) as "N2".

Connections to NHSnet were strictly controlled by the NHS Information Authority, which specified the security required and data protocols allowed under its 'Code of Connect' agreements[ citation needed ]. Similarly, it controlled access to or from the Internet, including email, through managed gateways.

Organisations wishing to provide information or applications to their NHS partners over NHSnet had a choice of applying for their own Code of Connection, which required a considerable investment in time (typically 6 months), effort and infrastructure; or partnering with one of the restricted number of organisations (BT, Cable and Wireless and Ioko) able to use their own Code of Connect for these purposes[ citation needed ].

NHSnet admin passwords were exposed, during the attack of Lulzsec in June 2011. [5]

N3

N3
N3 (NHS) logo.png
TypeData and voice
Location UK
Protocols IP
Operator BT
Established2003
Current statusOperational
Commercial?No
Funding NHS
Website digital.nhs.uk/services/health-and-social-care-network

N3 is a national broadband network for the English National Health Service (NHS), connecting all NHS locations and 1.3 million employees across England. As of 2018 it is being phased out. In 2004, BT was awarded the contract to deliver and manage the IT project on behalf of the NHS. [6] N3 was preceded by NHSnet, becoming N3 in 2006. [7]

N3 provides the foundations to deliver other components of the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) such as Choose and Book, the NHS Care Records Service, Electronic Prescriptions and the NHS Picture Archiving and Communications System. [8]

Technical details

N3 runs over a high-speed IP-based virtual private network. It links acute hospitals and GP surgeries in England through 58 points of presence (POPs), and also has a further five POPs in Scotland. N3 is fully resilient at backbone and POP level, enabling 100% core network service availability. The standardised national infrastructure will enable the rollout of 21st Century healthcare IT applications and the next generation of IP-based converged communications solutions.[ citation needed ]

Compliance with ISO 20000.[ citation needed ]

A range of N3 hosting providers can provide Information Governance Statement of Compliance (IG SoC) accredited, secure, third-party application hosting services. Providers can also act in an advisory capacity to organisations wishing to offer bespoke applications to the NHS.[ citation needed ]

Progress

In March 2007, N3's Voice Services were launched. These services offer free on-net calls, and potential to reduce fixed-to-mobile costs. [9]

As the N3 Service Provider (N3SP), BT works with NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH) to support the delivery of the NPfIT, and develop products and services to capitalise on N3's state-of-the-art capabilities. [ citation needed ]

The N3 network enables the user to access NHS Wide Web (nww) prefixed sites, as well as www. [10]

Transition

HSCN, delivered by multiple suppliers adhering to an agreed set of standards, is intended to progressively replace the N3 national healthcare network. [11] [12] The N3 data and voice networking contracts expired in March 2017. [13] NHS Digital looked to replace a long-term single supplier contract with a marketplace of network options. [14] The project for a new network was initially known as the Public Services Network for Health. [15] In January 2017, the managed services provider Redcentric was appointed for a three-year period as the peering exchange provider. [16] NHS Digital have also contracted with BT for the provision of transition network arrangements for the two to three years from April 2017. [17] In November 2020 NHS Digital announced the completion of the HSCN migration and legacy network termination, with liabilities for the legacy N3 network terminated at the end of October 2020. [18]

Related Research Articles

BT Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, broadband and mobile services in the UK, and also provides subscription television and IT services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">999 (emergency telephone number)</span> Emergency number in several countries

999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for emergency assistance. Countries and territories using the number include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Poland, Qatar, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.

The NHS Information Authority (NHSIA) was part of the UK National Health Service (NHS). It was established as a NHS special health authority by an Act of Parliament in April 1999. With headquarters in Birmingham, UK, its aim was to bring together four NHS IT and Information bodies to work together to deliver IT infrastructure and information solutions to the NHS in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHS Digital</span> Former UK government agency

NHS Digital was the trading name of the Health and Social Care Information Centre, which was the national provider of information, data and IT systems for commissioners, analysts and clinicians in health and social care in England, particularly those involved with the National Health Service of England. The organisation was an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Openreach Limited is a company wholly owned by BT Group plc, that maintains the telephone cables, ducts, cabinets and exchanges that connect nearly all homes and businesses in the United Kingdom to various national broadband and telephone networks. It was established in 2006 following an agreement between BT and the UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to implement certain undertakings, pursuant to the Enterprise Act 2002, to ensure that rival telecom operators have equality of access to BT's local network.

NHSmail is an email, diary and directory system for National Health Service (NHS) employees in England and Scotland. The system is not for patients of the NHS. Retired NHS staff do not have access.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom</span>

Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services (NHS) of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is only free to UK residents and a charge may be made to those not entitled to free NHS care.

A non-geographic number is a type of telephone number that is not linked to any specific locality. Such numbers are an alternative to the traditional 'landline' numbers that are assigned geographically using a system of location-specific area codes. Non-geographic numbers are used for various reasons, from providing flexible routing of incoming phone calls to generating revenue for paid-for services.

The NHS Connecting for Health (CFH) agency was part of the UK Department of Health and was formed on 1 April 2005, having replaced the former NHS Information Authority. It was part of the Department of Health Informatics Directorate, with the role to maintain and develop the NHS national IT infrastructure. It adopted the responsibility of delivering the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), an initiative by the Department of Health to move the National Health Service (NHS) in England towards a single, centrally-mandated electronic care record for patients and to connect 30,000 general practitioners to 300 hospitals, providing secure and audited access to these records by authorised health professionals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service (England)</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in England

The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer healthcare system in the world after the Brazilian Sistema Único de Saúde. Primarily funded by the government from general taxation, and overseen by the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS provides healthcare to all legal English residents and residents from other regions of the UK, with most services free at the point of use for most people. The NHS also conducts research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BT Global Services</span>

BT Global is a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group that provides global security, cloud and networking services to multinational companies worldwide, with operations in 180 countries. It was established in July 2000 as BT Ignite.

111 is a free-to-call single non-emergency number medical helpline operating in England, Scotland and Wales. The 111 phone service has replaced the various non-geographic 0845 rate numbers and is part of each country's National Health Service: in England the service is known as NHS 111; in Scotland, NHS 24; and in Wales, NHS111 Wales.

Richard Granger is a British management consultant and former UK civil servant who was Director General for the NHS's information technology project, Connecting for Health.

The Public Services Network (PSN) is a UK government's high-performance network, which helps public sector organisations work together, reduce duplication and share resources. It unified the provision of network infrastructure across the United Kingdom public sector into an interconnected "network of networks" to increase efficiency and reduce overall public expenditure. It is now a legacy network and public sector organisations are being migrated to using services on the public internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Action Party</span> Political party in the UK

The National Health Action Party (NHA) is a political party in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHS England</span> Oversight body for the National Health Service in England

NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the National Health Service in England as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It directly commissions NHS general practitioners, dentists, optometrists and some specialist services. The Secretary of State publishes annually a document known as the NHS mandate which specifies the objectives which the Board should seek to achieve. National Health Service Regulations are published each year to give legal force to the mandate.

Lorenzo was a controversial electronic health record platform (EHR) by DXC Technology, originally designed in the early 2010s as part of the National Programme for IT in the NHS. Lorenzo was deployed across more than 20 NHS trusts across the United Kingdom between 2010 and 2015, with most trusts progressing procurement activities to replace the system as of 2020.

The Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN) is the secure network for Scotland’s public services. More than 6,000 sites are connected by the network.

In Practice Systems Limited (INPS) is a health informatics company, part of the Cegedim group and based in the United Kingdom.

In 2005 the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom began deployment of electronic health record systems in NHS Trusts. The goal was to have all patients with a centralized electronic health record by 2010. Lorenzo patient record systems were adopted in a number of NHS trusts. While many hospitals acquired electronic patient records systems in this process, there was no national healthcare information exchange. Ultimately, the program was dismantled after a cost to the UK taxpayer was over $24 billion, and is considered one of the most expensive healthcare IT failures.

References

  1. ↑ "NHS saves around £75m a year thanks to historic public sector data network migration". digital.nhs.uk. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "Background to N3 - The National Network". NHS Connecting for Health. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Keen, J.; Wyatt, J. (2000). "Total charges for use of NHSnet between 1995-6 and 1999-2000". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 321 (7265). BMJ: 875–878. doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7265.875. PMC   1118682 . PMID   11021869.
  4. ↑ "NHSnet: the Closure Countdown". N3. Archived from the original on 12 November 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Hackers warn NHS over security". BBC News. BBC. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "DoH extends BT N3 deal". The Guardian. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "NhsNet Closure". Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ "NHS Connecting for Health - Background to N3". Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  9. ↑ "N3 Voice Services". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Namespace policy". NHS Digital. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Hall, Mark (9 February 2016). "Communicating HSCN: Why the government must act now". government computing. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "HSCN Transition". sckey.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  13. ↑ Scroxton, Alex (14 September 2016). "NHS trusts and suppliers not ready for end of N3 network". Computer Weekly . Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  14. ↑ Hill, Rebecca (30 January 2017). "Redcentric awarded three-year Health and Social Care Network contract". www.publictechnology.net. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  15. ↑ "Health and Social Care Network briefing with HSCIC". www.techuk.org. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  16. ↑ Scroxton, Alex (27 January 2017). "NHS Digital picks peering exchange provider for HSCN". Computer Weekly . Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "HSCN Transition". asckey.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  18. ↑ "NHS saves around £75m a year thanks to historic public sector data network migration". digital.nhs.uk. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.