New messaging and conference application links NHS Wales staff with one another and beyond

A new service called Microsoft Lync is being made available to Welsh health boards. It enables video conferencing and instant messaging between NHS Wales colleagues, and their patients, carers and support workers.

Staff in NHS Wales make thousands of audio and video conference calls every month. However, the Welsh Health Video Service (WHVS) is currently limited to providing internal conference calls within NHS Wales.

One of the benefits Lync brings is its ability to host on-line conferences with users outside of NHS Wales. Lync will be able to include other organisations, such as community services, care homes, charities, etc. Many clinicians will be able to include patients in those calls as well, provided their patients have a broadband connection where they live.  The service can be used with laptops, smart phones and tablets and can support multi disciplinary teams working in the community.

Initially, the Lync infrastructure will be deployed alongside the current Welsh Health Video Service, with links in place to allow users on either system to join the same video conferences. In the longer term it is expected that the Lync system will replace the WHVS, resulting in cost savings. Savings will also be made through the reduction of travel costs.

A resilient central infrastructure will support 12,000 Lync users across NHS Wales organisations. This can be scaled to support additional users through the addition of extra Lync Servers.

In order to cover the operational costs of hosting and running Lync, the Service Licence Agreement with the health boards and trusts is being updated. Once this is done, the service will be available to staff in those organisations. 

The service is being offered by the NHS Wales Informatics Service. The infrastructure for the application has been funded by the Welsh Government's Health Technologies and Telecare Fund.