NHS | techUK Networks and Connectivity Webinar

The Networks and Connectivity Programme, part of the NHS England Frontline Capabilities portfolio, builds on 3 years NHS England of support and investment in NHS fixed line connectivity (under the Future Connectivity Programme, closed March 2025) and supports ongoing NHS Network digital transformation efforts.

Programme Overview

The programme’s objective is to ensure NHS organisations have resilient and efficient networks, including the required level of fixed and wireless connectivity for all staff and across all sites where digital tools are required to deliver healthcare, including a Connectivity Centre of Excellence. This work will provide the critical underlying infrastructure to support and enable the digital transformation goals of the NHS 10-Year Plan.

See our website for further details Networks and connectivity transformation - Frontline capabilities - NHS England Digital

What will attendees get out of it?

The programme is currently carrying out discovery work on the viability of solutions to help address the problem statements below.

We are planning an introductory webinar, followed-up by an in-person workshop at techUK offices with a select audience.

The webinar will be an opportunity for the NHS England team to introduce their programme, details of planned work over the next 3 years and outline two key problem statements for industry to address during the art-of-the-possible workshop.

There will be time during the webinar for questions and feedback on the problem statements, which will be considered prior to the in-person workshop.

At this stage, there is no anticipated central procurement to underpin a national product or solution.  However, industry input and expertise are sought to inform our decisions and for consideration in best practice guidance for local NHS organisations. NHS England’s role will include sharing learnings from industry and making NHS organisations aware of viable solutions, technologies and services which can help address the problem areas.

Problem statements

Attendees should review the below problem statements in advance of the webinar and come prepared with ideas, solutions, services or recommendations to the problem statements or how NHS England may approach the challenge.

Question one: NHS Staff work in a range of domestic settings, including patients’ homes. How can industry ensure that the required connectivity is available to staff in domestic settings?

Background

Access to connectivity is critical for NHS staff delivering care, both on the NHS estate and across the community. For NHS workers in the community, such as community nurses, midwives, GPs on home visits and ambulance staff, connectivity is required:

• to access and update real-time patients records on Electronic Patient Record and associated systems to ensure the correct advice, care and medicines are delivered

• to conduct remote video consultations with other NHS Staff, where expert advice is needed to agree priority and potential critical referral

• for staff safety & security

To achieve government missions of moving care from Hospital to Community and Analogue to Digital, we need to equip NHS staff with seamless, reliable and real-time connectivity for their devices.

Supporting information:

• solutions and technologies should be commercially available now or in the near future,

• most NHS staff use mobile devices (phone/tablet/laptop) equipped with SIM cards,

• Domestic care settings includes both private homes and care homes,

• there are often local policies, time constraints and security concerns that prevent staff requesting access to patient’s home Wi-Fi,

• staff experience and feedback demonstrate indoor 4G and 5G cellular coverage is far from universal and is often insufficient inside buildings. 

Further reading:

• Nursing in the Digital Age – The Queen's Institute of Community Nursing

Question 2: As NHS primary care sites increasingly move to fibre-based connectivity, what options are available to provide cost effective and robust connectivity resilience for these sites. 

NHS GP and community-based sites have recently moved to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) solutions from their previous copper services to meet the increased demand from digital services, such as cloud-based telephony.  Connectivity requirements of these sites will continue to increase to meet the objectives of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.

What resilience options are available now and in the near future to address these requirements?

Supporting information:

• We will consider all connectivity solutions able to meet requirements,

• We recognise that a small period of downtime may be inevitable for some solutions,

• Assume a bandwidth requirement of 50-100Mbps  per site,

• Solutions should be targeted at smaller sites as larger sites, such as hospitals, are likely to have multiple, diverse links due to the nature of the 24hr, critical services they provide,

• Resilience must support both public internet and private network connectivity.