Case Study: Norfolk NHS achieves faster rural network performance with Teneo’s Riverbed SteelHead

Teneo enabled Norfolk NHS to overcome network bottlenecks at its rural doctors’ surgeries due to limited network bandwidth availability

Norfolk NHS, serving 882,000 people across a largely rural county in England, faced serious network bottlenecks at its GP surgeries. Many sites were constrained by slow broadband and limited bandwidth, which made it difficult to access medical records, test results, X-rays, and other patient files. Norfolk NHS worked with Teneo and Riverbed’s SteelHead WAN Optimization solution to find a faster alternative to expensive leased line upgrades.

Teneo piloted and deployed SteelHead appliances at Coltishall and Spixworth, with installations completed quickly and minimal downtime. The solution cut document and image transfer times dramatically, with downloads improving by up to 90% and some files moving from 90 seconds to just seconds. Norfolk NHS expanded the rollout to 25 sites, replaced some leased lines, and achieved return on investment in just over 12 months, while also eliminating many file-transfer complaints.

Norfolk NHS

Charles Moore

Deputy GPIT Services Manager, NHS NEL Commissioning Support Unit