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Channel driving change for care givers
When the NHS and those responsible for looking after vulnerable people need help with their IT, the likes of CDW and Maintel are examples of the role partners can play
The channel are seen as trusted advisers and nowhere is this description more appropriate than in the health sector where technology can make the difference in patient outcomes.
The NHS is facing the same digital transformation pressures as any other business, meaning there is a channel role available in helping them to adopt and use technology to aid that strategy. Examples of what that looks like in action regularly emerge from the channel as partners are seen as the best source of services and support.
This week alone has thrown up a couple of cases of the channel making a positive impact, with CDW the first, as it is working with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust to make sure staff are able to use tech to improve patient care.
The channel player is working with the Stockport NHS Trust over an 18-month period as part of the digital transformation process, with a focus on ramping up the IT capabilities at Stepping Hill Hospital.
A fresh wireless network infrastructure is underpinning the CDW efforts to help with digital informatics to allow medical equipment to be located and VDI access to enable more flexible options for staff.
Phillipa Winter, chief technologist for health and social care at CDW, said that it was working with an NHS Trust that recognised the powerful role technology could play.
“The forward-thinking vision that Stockport NHS Foundation Trust harboured for integrating technology sparked genuine excitement at CDW. It stands as a remarkable example of harnessing technology not to substitute human efforts, but to elevate and amplify their impact on day-to-day tasks,” she said.
“This transformative approach not only empowers clinicians to extend their reach to more patients, but also affords them the precious opportunity to invest additional, high-quality time in patient interactions, fostering a future where healthcare is not just efficient but deeply human-centred,” she added.
Holly Carr, chief clinical information officer and clinical safety officer at the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, said that it recognised the role technology could play in shaping its future and reached out to CDW to deliver a transformative solution.
“We knew we needed to be smarter to maximise and optimise our existing resources. The new technology makes sharing devices and information more seamless and has enabled us to provide the infrastructure and digital capability to support a more agile working environment and more mobile workforce across multiple care settings,” she said.
Elsewhere in the channel, The Orders of St John Care Trust reached out to a partner to help deliver a fresh cloud communications solution. The care organisation has looked to a channel partner to help move away from legacy on-prem telephony kit and shift to a cloud comms package.
Yogesh Patel, chief growth officer at Maintel, said that it recognised the importance of its role in providing a fresh comms system that would be used to improve the lives of staff and residents.
“As a trusted adviser, we are committed to ensuring the Trust reaps the full benefits of the solution to boost efficiency and improve both their residents and staff, customer experience,” he said.
In response, John Downer, The Orders of St John Care Trust’s IT project manager, said that it had wanted to improve communications and looked to the channel to provide that answer: “This solution will enable us to better connect with our residents and staff across our network of residential care homes in the UK.”
