Health Trust Unifies Communications,
Speeds Up Clinical Decision Making
Real Impact
for Better
Health
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust wanted to improve workflow and
communications throughout its services to help doctors and nurses connect
more efficiently and deliver higher levels of care. Belfast Trust deployed
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 across all its locations. By using the interoperable
unified communications solutions in Lync 2010, employees are finding it easier
to communicate and share information freely through the use of voice, video,
instant messaging, and presence technology.
Company: Belfast Health and Social Care
Trust
Website: www.belfasttrust.hscni.net
Country: United Kingdom
Industry: Health
Employees: 20,000
Company Profile: Belfast Trust provides
integrated health and social care to 340,000
persons in Belfast, in addition to district
services to all of Northern Ireland.
Summary
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust operates in Northern Ireland through a network of six
organizations and more than 100 physical locations with an annual budget of about £1 billion
(US$1.5 billion) and a staff of around 20,000. It wanted to replace its previous system with a
unified communications system that would make it easier for doctors, nurses, and administrators
to access information and communicate effectively regardless of location.
Solution: Belfast Trust deployed Microsoft
Lync Server 2010 to give its staff a unified
communications technology that would
support a consistently high quality of service
across all its locations.
For its new unified communications solution, Belfast Trust selected Microsoft Lync Server 2010. An
important factor in its choice was that its staff was already familiar with the Microsoft user
interface. Integration was also a key concern. Lync Server 2010 includes a range of
communication services that are already integrated, which meant that Belfast Trust would not
need to add on those services, at either an extra cost or effort. “We were happy with the built-in
integration from the very beginning,” says Paul Duffy, Chief Information Officer at Belfast Health
and Social Care Trust.
Software & Services:
 Microsoft Server Product Portfolio
- Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Moving to the new system at Belfast Trust has reduced communication costs and increased the
speed of clinical decision making. Clinicians can use the Microsoft Lync 2010 client to send instant
messages, initiate on-demand videoconferencing, and share their desktops so that they can view
the same clinical information or patient record no matter their location.
Access to on-demand communication has eliminated the need to meet in person, avoiding all the
inherent scheduling challenges. For Belfast Trust, the videoconferencing feature of Lync is very
important because it enables real-time, face-to-face communication between healthcare
providers wherever they are located. “In healthcare, it’s all about reaching a decision quickly.
Using Lync 2010, we can increase the number of calls that reach the intended person on the first
try. Faster connectivity means faster decision making,” says Duffy.
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“Using the communication and
collaboration features in Lync 2010 within a
clinical environment, we can expedite the
decision-making process.”
Paul Duffy, Chief Information Officer, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Document published: July 2013
The Full Story

Communication regardless of location. Belfast Trust put in
place a rollout plan that would meet the precise needs of its
healthcare environment. In order to avoid disruption of
established communications, a pilot group provided
feedback on existing communications before deployment so
that needed features could be replicated in Lync. “We have
improved how staff members communicate with one another
by consolidating messaging streams and providing instant
messaging, presence, and data communications,” says Duffy.
“Now all staff can communicate quickly no matter where
they are.”

Improved video capabilities. Videoconferencing in Lync
2010 makes possible real-time communication among
healthcare providers. Clinicians are finding increasing
opportunities to use the videoconferencing feature. The
Trust feels that for specific areas, such as mental health,
diabetes, or diet management, video chat may be the ideal
mode of communication for patients and clinicians. It
foresees that physicians will use Lync to communicate with
discharged patients or those with conditions that would be
helped by several sessions of brief health coaching.
Delivering High-Quality Services
One of five health trusts in Northern Ireland, Belfast Health and
Social Care Trust has an annual budget of about £1 billion
(US$1.5 billion) and 20,000 staff members. That makes it one of
the largest trusts in the United Kingdom. Belfast Trust provides
healthcare to the 340,000 citizens of Belfast, in addition to district
services throughout Northern Ireland.
The Trust’s overall objective is to improve communication flow,
consolidate communications, and reduce costs. It strives to
improve services for its staff, with the intent that increased quality
of services for staff will translate to increased quality of services
for patients. “In the healthcare field, information needs to be
passed quickly and accurately through the system to get a fast
response, which in turn means we can give more people highquality care,” says Paul Duffy, Chief Information Officer at Belfast
Health and Social Care Trust.
Unified communications is very important to Belfast Trust. It
wanted to implement a truly innovative unified communications
solution that would enable staff to provide higher-quality
services. The Trust wanted to consolidate and develop nextgeneration voice and data communications services by delivering
IP telephony and upgrading to a wireless infrastructure and
integrated communications platform that staff members can
access from anywhere.
Better Communication, Faster Decision Making
In implementing a new unified communications solution, the
Trust’s primary goal was to enhance workflow and
communications so that doctors, nurses, and administrative staff
could deliver higher levels of healthcare. It wanted to provide a
consistent level of support across its participating hospitals and
community care settings.
Belfast Trust chose Microsoft Lync Server 2010 over its current
vendors primarily for its instant messaging, presence, and
videoconferencing features, in addition to its communication
services. If Belfast Trust had stayed with its previous vendors,
each of the communication capabilities not only would have been
an added feature with an added cost, but each capability might
not be integrated with the overall solution.

Well integrated. When Belfast Trust decided to replace its
existing system with a new one, integration was a key factor.
The new solution worked well with existing desktop
applications and the familiar user experience helped with
user adoption. The Microsoft Lync 2010 client is integrated
with the Microsoft Outlook messaging and collaboration
client, which was a major benefit because staff was already
familiar with the user interface and features, such as instant
messaging and presence.
Real Impact for Today’s Healthcare
Consolidating to a single infrastructure has reduced costs and
improved service to staff members, who can now provide higherquality healthcare through faster decision making.
Belfast Trust predicts a companywide savings of £1 million
(US$1.5 million) during the period of the contract. It will achieve
this in various practical ways, including maximizing the existing
cabling infrastructure, reducing bearer circuits, and reducing
maintenance costs.
From a clinical viewpoint, Belfast Trust measures its savings by
the reduced time needed to make a clinical decision with input
from coworkers. With the unified communications system, staff
has real-time access to information and to one another. “Using
the communication and collaboration features in Lync 2010
within a clinical environment, we can expedite the decisionmaking process,” says Duffy. “For those people who understand
Lync and adopt it, there are real cost savings in terms of the time
needed to make decisions.”
Microsoft provides affordable solutions for health organizations
of all shapes and sizes. Its software is seamlessly integrated and
connects well to other systems. This has enabled Belfast Trust to
build a highly integrated solution. “We feel we are making great
strides in achieving our goal of providing higher-quality services
consistently across all our locations,” says Duffy. By using Lync
2010, Belfast Trust healthcare teams can collaborate to speed up
the decision-making process. “We chose Microsoft technology
because we felt it would help staff help patients more quickly,”
says Duffy.
Real Impact for
Better Health