Perth's Fiona Stanley Hospital signs on with BT for communications and IT services

The new Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, Western Australia, will put communications and sustainability at the forefront of its IT agenda, thanks to an agreement with international services firm, Serco, for facilities management and support services.

Serco will partner with BT for the project. Under the contract, BT will install and manage the hospital’s communications infrastructure and run a range of IT services.

The WA Department of Health announced Serco as the preferred bidder for the contract in October 2010, following a nine-month evaluation process. According to BT, Serco will work with the Western Australian Government as the lead service integrator to provision non-clinical services, with BT as the key IT partner.

The finalisation of contract negotiations means the project team can begin a three-year plan to establish its equipment, technology and systems for the 783 bed hospital, due to open in 2014.

The network will use cabled Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), a protocol agnostic mechanism for data transport to enable fast network access across the campus. The network will be supplemented by a Wi-Fi mesh network for unified communications. The idea is to help carers review patients and communicate with their families without having to schedule face-to-face meetings.

The new hospital will also use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track medical equipment such as scanners, ultrasound equipment and defibrillators.

BT said the project will create more than 70 jobs in Western Australia and up to 10 new positions will be established. The company has an e-health track record in Singapore, Hungary, Australia, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Follow Georgina Swan on Twitter: @swandives

Follow CIO Australia on Twitter: @CIO_Australia

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