Leeds Mental Health Trust provides a comprehensive range of mental health and learning disabilities services to people living in the city. It has 2,500 staff, of whom around 1,200 are IT users, and has about 1,000 PCs to support.
To help it manage its network infrastructure, and to add new technologies, the trust has been working with Digica since 1996. The company manages and support Leeds' Wide Area Network (WAN) and its Local Area Networks (LANs), as well as supporting its servers and providing a pro-active monitoring service.
The trust's six main sites are linked by a resilient, high-speed network designed by Digica, which went live in 2002. By using a nested ring configuration with multiple redundant links, the network is reliable and robust. In total, there are around 50 sites, of which Digica supports the majority. “It has been very good at providing the flexibility to support this decentralised organisation across so many sites,” said Dave Shelley, head of IM&T at Leeds Mental Health Trust.
The company also installed a wireless network for the trust at its headquarters. “This was a first for us, and we depended on Digica for their technical knowledge,” said Shelley. “It has worked very well, and we're now looking at installing wireless networks on other sites.”
“Digica's technical knowledge is excellent, they've been very helpful and knowledgeable, both in terms of network and supporting our 12 main servers. They've got the expertise and experience required in terms of dealing with NHS IT departments and how they work.”
Explaining why Leeds chose Digica in a re-tendering process in 2003, Shelley said, “We awarded Digica the contract because of their competitive price, their knowledge and experience of our network and infrastructure, and their excellent overall technical skills and service.”
“Digica has always been able to meet our tight timescales to support new sites or network requirements – in general, we've been very happy with their overall performance,” concluded Shelley.
“Digica's technical knowledge is excellent, they've been very helpful and knowledgeable, both in terms of network and supporting our 12 main servers. They've got the expertise and experience required in terms of dealing with NHS IT departments and how they work.”
Dave Shelley, head of IM&T at Leeds Mental Health Trust.