UK's Largest WLAN Network
As part of a major overhaul of IT infrastructure at the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust, Aruba Networks WLAN technology has been used to create what is believed to be the United Kingdom's largest single wireless network, covering 7,000 users in eight hospitals, including UCLH's new flagship US$770 million hospital on Euston Road, London.
The wireless network consists of three Aruba 5000 mobility controllers and over 300 centrally managed access points (APs). It has been installed primarily to accommodate UCLH's move to a completely paperless, Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system over the next few years, and will enable doctors and nurses to access patient information on the move anywhere within the hospitals, from bedside to operating theater.
"This is a great illustration of the vital role that wireless technology has to play in a modern hospital environment," said Kevin Jarrold, director of information management at UCLH. "Moving away from paper-based patient records to a wireless-accessible electronic system really frees up the way that medical staff work. Not only is information more accurate, but notes can be referred to and updated in real-time from anywhere in the hospital. This is particularly useful when a patient is being moved and the doctor requires access to his or her record en route."
Due to the sensitive nature of the information contained in patient records, security is a key issue for UCLH. Aruba protects patient information by adopting a centralized multi-layer security protection strategy, whereby any user or device attempting to connect to a corporate system is authenticated and checked for potential threats before being allowed onto the UCLH network. Additionally, all encryption is implemented by a centralized hardware-accelerated encryption engine rather than in individual access points.
"UCLH is at the forefront of both technology innovation and clinical care," said Bob Vickers, head of sales UK, Aruba Networks. "Not only will the wireless network immediately increase the efficiency of information access, but it also represents the foundation of future converged communications advances. For instance, the network is fully ready for VoIP over wireless."
Posted to the site on 16th September 2005