§ Sir Irvine PatnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in(a) Sheffield, (b) Yorkshire and (c) Humberside have been connected to the Internet; and if he will make a statement. [40574]
§ Mr. SackvilleRecords are not available centrally of individual connections to the Internet by prospective national health service users. However, framework contracts have been awarded to British Telecom and Mercury for wide area network services to establish a NHS-wide networking service to support the business requirements of NHS organisations. This electronic communications infrastructure dedicated to the NHS will, in turn, be able to be connected to the Internet through secure, centrally managed, gateways. It will remain for individual organisations to decide whether to take up the option of being connected to the Internet through the secure gateway available as part of the NHS-wide networking service.
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