Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals will become the largest NHS Trust to roll out converged security and access management technology.

The organisation will implement single sign-on and strong authentication, which will create and enforce a single security policy for both network and physical access.

The system will drastically improve password management and will streamline access, said Michael Mythen at the Trust.

“Before Imprivata, each user would have carried around up to three separate smartcards in order to gain access to IT and building resources. And about 55 per cent of all helpdesk calls through were password related,” he said

“Using OneSign, staff will only have to use one card for all their access needs with only one associated password. We expect to reduce the volume of password reset requests by around 90 per cent, as well as improving staff productivity levels."

The system, based on OneSign from converged management supplier Imprivata, will be used by 11,000 clinical and administration staff and will reduce the number of physical access cards they have to use.

It will integrate with building access systems allowing them to create and enforce a single security policy for both IT network and physical access.