NHS, Orange Business Services and Login Enterprise

December 18, 2020

I was feeling apprehensive. I was looking at what was going on in Italy, how the health service there was overwhelmed.

I could see the numbers rising in the UK, and I realized that we would have to come up with some new innovative solutions to enable patient care to continue to take place in the UK NHS.

When I watched Ian Wakeford, Head of Leicestershire Health Informatics Service, on television, relive his experience of the start of the pandemic, it brought back the fear of the unknown we all felt, and the urgent need to adopt a new way of life.

Ian had a difficult task ahead to enable NHS key workers to work from home.

Sounds simple?

The Challenges

Firstly, working from home meant not having access to desktop computers on the NHS premise. Secondly, as the pandemic hit, there was a global shortage of laptops and desktops for purchase. The third challenge, the NHS relies on many legacy applications, such as patient records, graphics-intensive x-ray or MRI images, and lab results applications, that require specific operating systems on which to run. Furthermore, a distributed workforce meant that getting around every person individually to meet their IT needs was impossible.

The Solution

Ian worked with Orange Business Services to build a centralized ‘Virtual Desktop’ system in record time.

A process which normally takes 3 – 6 months was delivered in just 2 weeks!

This meant every NHS worker could securely access their NHS desktop over the internet, via their device if needed, no matter the operating system, and still get access to patient data and all their usual applications. A real hit with consultants and critical NHS workers.

For security, they used Multifactor authentication via their mobile phones, and a simple self-enrolment process was a success for most users.

The Secret to Success

The only way to achieve this delivery speed is by automating every step and accelerating the platform’s testing to ensure it would work.

Login VSI’s automated testing solution (Login Enterprise) validated the Orange Business Services platform and significantly reduced failure risk.

The solution’s scalability ensures every single key NHS worker can access the tools they need when they need them.
The application compatibility with the environment to ensure each application works as it should after every change.
The continued availability and performance of all the applications that each NHS worker requires to deliver the best patient care level possible.