Case Study
Sector: Public services
Esdebe delivers Symantec DR solution for the NHS
The NHS is Scotland’s largest single employer, and around 12,000 staff work for NHS Lanarkshire. It meets the needs of individuals and communities by providing high-quality, safe and effective care through a workforce who understand the diverse needs of the population. Business Benefits
• • • •
Patient records are accessible, on-site, within 10–15 minutes of an inter-site outage Strategically pivotal solution delivered within NHS budget Disaster recovery (DR) solution for three hospitals delivered within tight timescales Discreet installation procedures avoided disruption.
The Challenge Before NHS Lanarkshire could move from paper to electronic case notes, having a robust and reliable DR solution in place was essential to protect access to patient records, in the event of a data centre or network outage. “Our technology runs from our data centre, but with three acute hospitals we needed to hold vital information locally, so data needed to be replicated on each site. We spoke to Symantec, who recommended working with Esdebe,” explained Barry McAlister, Head of Systems at NHS Lanarkshire. Timescales were extremely tight, consisting of weeks rather than months.
Email: info@esdebe.com Tel: +44 (0) 845 686 9600 www.esdebe.com
The Solution NHS Lanarkshire was recommended a solution based on Storage Foundation for Windows and Veritas Volume Replicator to copy patient records from the data centre to servers running in the three hospitals. “This was the most reliable, cost-effective option available to enable the move from paper to electronic case notes,” explained Simon Brown, Managing Director of Esdebe, who personally oversaw the project.
The Results “Installation only caused minimal disruption, there were no issues and we were happy with it. It all went well and the documentation handover was good. Everything was delivered on time and within budget,” commented Barry. With a DR solution in place, NHS Lanarkshire could convert to a paperless case notes system with the knowledge that, in the event of a major network or data centre failure, patients’ personal notes could be accessed within 10–15 minutes to facilitate well-informed treatment. “I’m in agreement with Symantec’s recommendation: any organisation looking to make an important strategic change should speak to Esdebe,” concluded Barry.
Email: info@esdebe.com Tel: +44 (0) 845 686 9600 www.esdebe.com