The new children's hospital in Dublin. Image: CHI
The five-year contract will see Telefónica Tech build and manage the hospital’s IT infrastructure, with a significant focus on cybersecurity.
Telefónica Tech has won a contract to provide digital infrastructure technology to the new children’s hospital that is currently under construction in Dublin.
Part of the Spanish telecom giant Telefónica Group, Telefónica Tech announced today (4 April) that it has agreed the contract with Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), the statutory body responsible for overseeing the development of the new hospital that is scheduled to open next year.
Combining the services currently provided by three children’s hospitals across Dublin, the new hospital – which has not been given an official name yet – will have a strong focus on digital technologies to make healthcare more seamless for staff and patients.
The five-year deal with CHI will see Telefónica Tech build and manage the hospital’s IT infrastructure, with a significant focus on cybersecurity. This means that the company will oversee everything from servers, storage and security to computers and workstations across the new hospital.
Telefónica Tech said the platform will also support the clinical applications that will integrate with the hospital’s new electronic patient record system.
“The new children’s hospital is set to transform children’s healthcare in Ireland as a centre of excellence,” said Ellen Dickson, vice-president of enterprise health at Telefónica Tech UK and Ireland.
“The IT infrastructure and services will underpin the vital clinical services and are therefore critical to the success of the hospital. [Our] strategic healthcare practice has … successfully delivered innovative and complex health IT projects with some of the largest health trusts in the UK.”
Currently under construction on the campus of St James’ Hospital in Dublin, the hospital is expected to open its doors in April 2025.
Adrian Rath, chief technology officer at CHI, said that the body delivers 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,” he said.
“Most importantly, all of this will bring about a safer and better experience for the children, young people and families who use our services.”
The hospital has been the subject of controversy because of frequent delays in the expected date of completion and increasing costs. In November, the development board of the hospital said construction was 92pc complete. And in February, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, TD, said the cost for the hospital has risen to €2.24bn.
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