Flexibility in the 24/7 IT clinical workspace

A trusts IT vision includes enabling clinicians and other members of staff to work more flexibly and to enhance the usage of key clinical systems within their portfolio. Space is at a premium in most clinical areas and the proliferation of devices for a number of different uses has started to cause problems, especially in the Emergency and AMU departments.

Staff need quick access to systems, specifically during times of peak pressure. User experience is poor, slow logon times using old devices compound this problem. Quite often staff are writing notes to input into systems and then requesting tests and treatment only when a device becomes available or asking other staff members to order tests on their behalf. This is of course against a number of IT and security policies.

Along with these issues, Windows 10 patching and feature updates requires a more flexible approach to allow for the 24/7 fast paced working environment in a busy hospital where devices are always in use.

Working with our UHL partners, the ‘eDesktop’ virtual desktop programme was proposed to resolve these issues. The solution used a number of technologies that the trust had already invested in and approved. Combining an upgrade to hardware and an increase in user adoption allowed for a solution that solved these problems.

NTT DATA re-architected and upgraded an existing VMware Horizon View environment and integrated this with Imprivata single sign on and multipurpose devices to create the ‘eDesktop’ environment. The OS was upgraded to Windows 10 allowing consistency between virtual desktop and physical client environments within our ‘eQuip’ programme.

Enablement of tap on / tap off facilities along with NHS spine authentication enhancements allow the desktop to truly roam with the user quickly while maintaining the security. The re-architecture has also increased the flexibility of the platform, allowing it to scale in line with the trusts expectations and includes the ability to scale into cloud technologies as and when the trust is ready.

Introduction of a further environment has enabled automatic failover and resilience to be introduced, supporting the key functions of the hospital 24/7.

Benefits of this approach

• A roaming desktop with the user allowing access via any device. Tap on/tap off allows quick access to the desktop and applications, without the need to re-launch or go through the full authentication cycle.
• Single sign on to applications and NHS spine authentication enhancements requires the user to only authenticate once per session, after this a risk based authentication method is used to maintain security. Single sign-on has been configured to automatically sign in the user to their most common applications. It also allows for self-service password reset reducing helpdesk calls.
• Re-architecting the platform has allowed for a more consistent user experience as well as improved performance and capacity. This has also allowed for the platform to scale with the ability to expand in small increments and utilise cloud technologies.
• Adding more applications to ‘eDesktop’ allowing access from outside the trust, including assessment of images by UHL staff reducing overall costs to the trust.
• Application deployment which uses the same toolset as the physical machines, giving users a consistent user experience between ‘eDesktop’ and ‘eQuip’ (Thick client rollout), reducing packaging and deployment effort and elapsed times.
• The ‘eQuip’ and ‘eDesktop’ projects are part of UHL’s ‘eHospitals’ programme of works. They both continue to be important pillars of this programme including a thick client desktop and IOS refresh as well as a virtual desktop upgrade.

If you would like to find out more about the ‘eQuip’ or ‘eDesktop’ programmes or would like to enquire how we can help your organisation to upgrade,  refresh or modernise then please contact [email protected] or [email protected]