BT partners up with NHS Blood and Transplant to create digital network

BT has announced it is partnering with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to provide a technology and communications system for England’s NHS blood donor network.

NHSBT, which is responsible for blood donation in England and transplant services across the UK, currently has 50 mobile teams in England that collect blood donations in local communities, as well at 23 fixed donation centres.

BT will connect NHS Blood and Transplant’s fixed and mobile sites using its 4G network, which uses EE’s mobile technology, allowing teams to digitally manage blood donor and blood collection information when the mobile teams travel to different locations across the country, as well as in the fixed blood donation sites.

A test phase roll-out is due to begin within the next few months, with BT providing an end-to-end service which includes devices that can be managed remotely over BT’s EE 4G network.

NHS staff will use the devices to record and update patient details, as well as track information on blood donation bookings and blood donor records.

All data will be stored on a BT platform in the cloud, which will be updated in real time and used by the blood donation processing team when the donation is collected.

David Suttie, accountable executive at NHSBT, said: “There will be many benefits to the new technology solution. It will allow us to collect IT data more effectively, help donors move through the process quicker and reduce paperwork.

“This will be a positive outcome for our blood donation sessions.”

The devices will be provided and managed by BT and include rugged hand-held scanners to identify and capture data on the donor and the blood donation, welcome device tablets to log information about the donor’s booking, and laptops for data management.

Danny Longbottom, director of local government and health at BT, said: “The work of NHS Blood and Transplant is integral to the NHS.

“We’re delighted to be able to further the work we do with the NHS and help transform the blood donation service by providing faster connectivity and support.”