BT has won NHS contracts worth £36m to create "communities of interest" for five primary care trusts.

BT will create Internet Protocol networks for Kent and Medway Health Informatics Service, North Merseyside Health Informatics Service, Peterborough and Stamford Hosptial NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Health Informatics Service, and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The networks will provide voice, data, and video transfer using the national N3 network - the £530m network also built by BT. The N3 network already connects 96.6 per cent of GPs' surgeries, according to the telco.

Lincolnshire Trust programme manager Merrill Hayes said the trust was making significant savings through a digital X-ray system which can transfer X-rays in seconds, rather than the days required to ship film around the county. ®

Related stories

• Update BT looks to help medicine go down in Qatar (23 November 2007)
• BT Rakes in new chair (20 February 2007)
• NHS patient bar codes slammed (19 February 2007)
• NAO kicks DoH for Dr Foster move (6 February 2007)
• Scottish NHS in cervical smear security blunder (2 February 2007)
• Patients can boycott NHS system, says commissioner (29 January 2007)
• BMA may seek NHS records system boycott (22 December 2006)
• UK government puts kybosh on NHS monkeys plan (21 December 2006)
• NSFW NHS 'filth peddler' fights back (21 December 2006)
• Updated El Reg terminates filth-peddling NHS website (19 December 2006)
• DoH sticks to 'opt out' for patient e-records (19 December 2006)
• NSFW Worcestershire NHS peddles filth to kiddies (18 December 2006)
• NHS urged to use more simple ICT (13 December 2006)