I N T E L L I G E N T T E C H N O L O G Y INFRASTRUCTURE
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust continues to deliver outstanding patient care with Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, has completed a major infrastructure modernisation project for the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, helping ensure resilient,‘ alwayson’ availability for the critical systems underpinning patient care. Working with EcoXpert partner RMD and XMA, the Trust has deployed Schneider Electric’ s EcoStruxure platform and UPS solutions across multiple sites, enabling centralised monitoring, improved operational visibility and long-term infrastructure planning.
The Trust provides health and care services to more than 500,000 people across Northumberland and North Tyneside. Covering around 2,500 square miles, it is the largest geographically in the UK and one of the highest performing NHS organisations. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management( NHFM), is one of the largest NHS-owned facilities management organisations, delivering capital projects and estate services across the Trust.
The organisation’ s IT infrastructure supports essential applications including electronic patient records, clinical systems, administration, access control and CCTV. Ensuring uptime across multiple sites is critical to maintaining operational services and supporting patient care. However, legacy UPS systems of varying ages and manufacturers created challenges around maintenance, monitoring and service continuity.
To address these challenges, the Trust implemented Schneider Electric’ s EcoStruxure platform to enable centralised monitoring of its UPS infrastructure across multiple sites. The deployment includes Smart-UPS solutions, network management cards, NetBotz cameras and sensors and EcoStruxure IT Expert for monitoring and reporting across 175 nodes.
Ross Higgins, Senior Technical Specialist at RMD, reported that after a discussion about the Trust’ s technical issues, it was clear a centralised monitoring system was required for its infrastructure.
“ Adoption of EcoStruxure is developing well. It provides reassurance that our UPS equipment on each site is reliable and‘ fit for purpose,’” said Bob Beckwith, Infrastructure Innovation and Transformation Manager, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.“ The Trust views its digital infrastructure as a pyramid, with power as the foundation and maintenance support at the top. We placed RMD, XMA and Schneider Electric solutions at the base to create a really solid foundation.”
The Trust now benefits from centralised visibility of its UPS infrastructure, enabling improved reporting, proactive maintenance and greater operational control.
Since the deployment, the organisation has modernised and standardised its UPS infrastructure, achieving 100 % uptime and availability, complete visibility of its UPS estate and improved benchmarking for energy efficiency and lifecycle health. It can now forecast and budget for maintenance and replacements, while preparing for future data centre consolidation across multiple sites. Data from EcoStruxure also supports ongoing investment decisions and long-term planning. �
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