Communication technology procurement and planning

Community Hospital Procurement Plan

Contracts and Procurement

Southmead Integrated Community Hospital Procurement Plan

The procurement plan presents a case for the redevelopment of 35-year-old telecoms infrastructure at Southmead Hospital. The plan highlights the need for the technological improvement showing what it will contribute to the envisioned redevelopment of the modernized health care facility. The advanced technological improvement will serve to increase efficiency in record keeping and access, patient monitoring and security within the facility. The overall target of these improvements is to ensure reliability and quality of care (Carillion, 2009).

Southmead Hospital seats a 27 hectares piece of land, on the northern region of Bristol, west of Gloucester Road (A38), about 3 miles north of Bristol City Centre. The main access points to the Hospital are; to the west - the Southmead Road and to the North Monks Park Avenue. The structures within the Hospital grounds clearly depict ad hoc increment of buildings since they have a mix in the form, materials and style in their display (North Bristol NHS Trust, 2012).

The hospital has stood at the site since 1902 when the Barton Regis Union of the Southmead Workhouse was constructed. Although the site has an urban setup context, with some commercial buildings, a residential area and a supermarket, its technology is very outdated. The Hospital ground comprises of women and children hospital, Monks Park House, Pathology that was recently constructed, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Hospital and a Learning and Resource center (North Bristol NHS Trust, 2012).

Southmead Hospital is a main branch hospital to England's fifth largest hospital - North Bristol NHS Trust. Combined with the Frechay, the two hospitals have about 9,000 members of staff and close to 1,300 beds. The two hospitals annual revenue turnover lies in the regions of 450 million pounds (Carillion, 2009).

Problem Statement

Information and record management in the Southmead Hospital is disappointing in spite of the hospital's sheer size. It is notable that a 35 years of switchboard that does not function. Communication between employees in the vast facility is not possible using the firm's facilities. Any interactions between employees are through personal mobile phones. The increasing volume of patient database and the need to liaise and consult with colleagues necessitated investment in an innovative technology (Carillion, 2009).

Technologies that will not only allow transfer of information but also facilitate proper management and easy access to patient records are desirable (Dimitri et al., 2008). There is need for the hospital to do away with the reluctance of holding back investments on new technology. This will enable efficient interaction between medical and management staff. Medical staff will be able to transfer patient information securely, confer with each other more efficiently. This efficiency will most of all secure patients' lives and guarantee quality of care by taking appropriate timely actions.

Security in the hospital grounds and that of the medical record has been neglected considering the steps Southmead Hospital has taken towards it. The currently available technology at the hospital cannot safeguard against personal medical information leaking. The vast Hospital grounds are insufficiently secure considering the increasing volume of threats. A technological solution that safeguards any hitch in security and gives immediate warning is ideal for an area that plays host to large volumes of visitors and residents. The proposed modernization of the technology infrastructure will serve as a measure to save lives and improve efficiency (Office of Government Commerce, 2007).

Project Objectives

The main Project objectives are:

To carry out National Health Service (NHS) plan of modernizing hospital facilities within Britain,

To implement measures that will facilitate record access, management, transfer and handling within the Hospital,

To install a telecommunication infrastructure that safe guards lives through proper security measures and To see to it that service delivery to patients is efficiently and with precision.

Procurement Plan

Procurement entails acquisition of supplies, services or materials required to attain successful implementation of a desired project (Caldwell et al., 2009, Albano et al., 2006). A procurement plan incorporates measures of purchasing materials or services cost-effectively bearing in mind the budgetary constraints, time line, project funding and the project risks. A team constituted carries out project procurement plan by determining the goals of the project and assessing the available resources. Procurement planning is hence undertaken in the early stages and maintained throughout to the completion of the project (Fewings, 2010, Turner, 1997).

The procurement plan for advanced technology at Southmead Hospital considers the main objective to be improving record management and improvement of security. This objectives target improvement of service delivery and safeguarding lives within the facility.

After identification of the service provider plan will be made to move the old technology to another location where it can be accessed as the new system is put up (Weele and Arjan, 2010). This will mean further inconveniencing the operations within the hospital in terms of access to information. The procurements team will be tasked to create a temporary mechanism to facilitate access of the information as the project is being implemented.

The terms and conditions in the implementation of the new technology will have to be precise to see to it that the Southmead Hospital does not encounter elongated periods of delays. This stands out as a project risk if fund release or plan approvals are delayed. The likely occurrence or such an event is factored in the plan so that solutions are readily available (Lewis and Roehrich, 2009).