An ambitious digital improvement project, which will give all GP surgeries in North Yorkshire and York access to high speed, full fibre broadband is nearing completion.

The collaboration between North Yorkshire connectivity specialist NYnet and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) has seen the upgrade of all North Yorkshire and York GP sites to full fibre broadband as part of a 24-month infrastructure development.

The project has involved some of the most rural and remote sites in the UK and follows an initial partnership between the two organisations during the COVID pandemic, which saw NYnet upgrade a number of North Yorkshire and York GP surgeries free of charge to urgently support online and video consultations.

Dave Mills, NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB’s Head of Digital, said the benefits for the region included better connectivity for all heath and care organisations using the sites, futureproofing of primary care to support greater cloud-based application utilisation for example cloud based telephony, online and video consultation, as well as wider social benefits that will come from bringing fibre into areas with poor connectivity.

He said: “A project of this scale and aspiration is unprecedented in the UK and will see all GPs in our region benefit from the very latest high performance fibre connectivity.

“The advantages for local healthcare teams are significant, both in terms of day-to-day administration and patient care.

“Thanks to our partnership with NYnet we have been able to achieve our goal of connecting every GP surgery to fibre to the premises within a short timescale and transform the way our health professionals work, right across the board.”

The digital upgrade programme was funded by NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB with support from NHS England.

Alastair Taylor, CEO of NYnet, said the company’s experience of delivering connectivity for North Yorkshire’s blue light services had helped it secure the project.

“NYnet is no stranger to major infrastructure projects and we are accustomed to connecting tricky sites where a significant amount of work is involved,” he said.

NYnet provides connectivity services to the majority of NHS bodies in North Yorkshire and York and had a specialised project team working with Openreach and other partners to deliver the scheme, reporting back into the ICB.

Alastair added: “One of the most challenging locations on this project was in Pateley Bridge, where there were no other providers and the doctors’ surgery had been suffering from poor internet speeds and reliability.

“With an increased demand for online consultations and most NHS admin services moving online, it was critical that the work was completed within a tight timescale.

“We are grateful to our experienced operations and engineering teams for working so closely with the ICB, enabling us to meet the schedule and ensure a smooth transition for each surgery.”