NHS Scotland has accelerated the implementation of Microsoft Teams across all of its health boards to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
It said the video conferencing and collaboration service, which is part of the Office 365 suite, has now gone live at all health boards to support remote working.
It enables users to hold virtual meetings, upload and share work on online files, use secure instant messages and make audio calls.
Colin Sinclair, chief executive of NHS National Services Scotland, said: “In response to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS Scotland has accelerated the roll out of Microsoft Teams, so that it is available to all of our staff – that’s over 160,000 colleagues.
“A national team was already working closely with local health board teams on the planned roll out of Microsoft Office 365 over the coming months, but in agreement with the Scottish Government, we accelerated that roll out to a couple of weeks. This technology is helping us enormously in allowing our organisation to adapt promptly to this emergency.
“I thank the digital teams whose determination has made this possible within challenging timescales. There is much work ahead, but I encourage all NHS colleagues to use Microsoft Teams as their secure communication and collaboration tool as we respond to support Scotland’s health and wellbeing in these unparalleled times.”
