Telefónica Tech, a leader in digital transformation and part of the Telefónica Group, has been announced as the successful vendor for the tender to provide numerous infrastructure technology solutions to Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) for the new digital children’s hospital.

When the new children’s hospital opens in 2025, digital technology will be involved in everything from electronic health records to the systems controlling the building. Digitisation fosters information exchange and helps doctors optimise their decisions and provide the best care for patients.

In this five year deal with Children’s Health Ireland, Telefónica Tech UK&I will build and manage the hospital’s IT infrastructure, with a significant focus on cyber security. Telefónica Tech will oversee all servers, storage, security, PCs, printers, workstations on wheels and laptops in the new hospital. The platform will also support the clinical applications that will integrate to the hospital’s new Electronic Patient Record system (powered by EPIC).

Adrian Rath, Chief Technology Officer with Children’s Health Ireland, explains the benefits this partnership will bring to staff working in the new hospital: “We are delighted to work with Telefónica Tech for the next five years, to create world-class digital infrastructure in a world-class digital hospital. In Children’s Health Ireland, we deliver around 200,000 episodes of care to patients in a year. The new hospital will be an incredible place for clinicians to provide that care to patients. There will be a single sign-on system to greatly improve access to information for clinicians, while a single email system for all staff will make for seamless cross-city collaboration between the new hospital and CHI Urgent Care sites at Connolly and Tallaght. The security solutions provided by Telefónica Tech will enable Children’s Health Ireland to strengthen its cyber security posture against potential cyber. Most importantly, all of this will bring about a safer and better experience for the children, young people and families who use our services”.

Ellen Dickson, VP of Enterprise Health at Telefónica Tech UK&I, said: “The New Children’s Hospital is set to transform children’s healthcare in Ireland as a centre of excellence. The IT infrastructure and services will underpin the vital clinical services and are therefore critical to the success of the hospital. Telefónica Tech UK&I’s Strategic Healthcare Practice has market-leading expertise, thanks to the skills and experience of our staff, and has successfully delivered innovative and complex health IT projects with some of the largest health trusts in the UK”.

Telefónica Tech UK&I is developing the infrastructure technology for the new children’s hospital while the building is under construction, due for completion by the end of October 2024.