NHS Scotland is to consolidate its administrative digital systems on Microsoft Office 365 with an £80 million investment to be implemented over five years.
The Scottish Government has announced the plan, saying it will lead to all of the country’s NHS boards and 161,000 employees using upgraded Office desktop products.
They will run on the Windows 10 E5 operating system, which is equipped with the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP) security service.
It will replace a wide array of systems used by health and care organisations in Scotland, a change that the Scottish Government said should enable staff to work together more effectively and increase efficiency.
They will have access to shared calendars, video meetings, a single email system and centralised access to documents.
Strategy commitment
This reflects an element of the Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy, which includes a commitment to improve workforce productivity through the use of shared tools and collaboration services.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman (pictured) said: “In Scotland, we are on a journey to fundamentally reshape the way our staff work together. We're creating the environment and the tools to allow staff and services to flourish.
“By consolidating hundreds of separate systems across Scotland’s NHS and care services, we can ensure that our hard working staff are able to focus more on patients than processes.
“At the same time, we have a duty to protect people's information safely and securely. Crucially, this investment will make our systems more resilient and give further protection against cyber threats.”
Cindy Rose, chief executive officer of Microsoft UK, said the security capability of Windows 10 E5 will provide a real time view of any potential cyber threats. WDATP uses behavioural data from sensors embedded in the operating systems to detect threats and recommend responses.
Image from gov.scot, Open Government Licence v3.0
