Shared connectivity at multi-occupancy sites

This guidance explains how NHS organisations can deliver financial and operational benefits through sharing connectivity with partners in multi-occupancy buildings. It covers the commercial, technical, infrastructure, security, governance and estates considerations to aid successful implementations.

It supports NHS organisations understanding of the possibilities and benefits of sharing connectivity infrastructure with partners to optimise the use of digital technology and innovation to increase collaboration, drive efficiency, free up resource time, increase the resilience of their networks and improve staff experience.

This document does not address or describe individual use cases but describes common scenarios and the key technical, commercial and security considerations.

The content is 'supplier agnostic' which means we do not endorse any specific companies, innovations, or approaches. Any mention of, or link to, a specific supplier or product is not an endorsement from the NHS England and is for illustrative purposes only.

For clarity, any recommendations made in this report are those of the report author and do not necessarily represent an endorsement, policy, or requirement from NHS England.

Multi-occupancy refers to sites where multiple NHS organisations or other partner organisations, such as councils, police or fire services, operate out of shared premises.

Shared connectivity refers to fixed line connectivity to the building, as well as the wired or wireless connectivity used to connect users and devices.

The guidance provides an overview of Wi-Fi roaming services to enable shared connectivity This topic has been addressed in detail in a previous guidance report The future of Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi roaming for the NHS and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) an independent study.

Co-located infrastructure, such as shared data centres or hosting agreements, are not in scope of this guidance.