NHS receives internet performance boost

The NHS is using acceleration technology to boost the performance of its national broadband network.

BT is responsible for the rollout of N3, the high-speed communications infrastructure connecting NHS sites as part of the £12bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT).

The telecoms supplier has selected Blue Coat Systems’ ProxySG appliances to accelerate internet content to over a million users.

Health professionals have experienced enhanced performance from the N3 service when accessing the web due to the acceleration technology, leading to reduced response times, improved performance of applications and faster file access.

N3 is also receiving bandwidth savings of around 30 per cent, which has enabled a greater return on investment in the network infrastructure.

The N3 operations centre routes internet traffic to and from health care providers and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) through its internet gateway. ProxySG appliances are deployed in-line at this primary gateway to speed content delivery and decrease bandwidth consumption.

The N3 internet gateway has a current capacity of one gigabit per second, but is expected to scale to 2.5 gigabits per second as demand increases.

Future plans for the technology could see individual health care provider offices and PCTs installing Blue Coat appliances to further speed applications.