The development follows the decision earlier this year to use the Plone Open Source Content Management System as the basis of all Internet and Intranet requirements across the NHS in Surrey. Dietmar Zilz, Surrey HIS Web Development Manager commented “We are really pleased with our decision to move to Plone. Both this site and the internal Intranet site have proved very successful with users at all levels”.

Surrey HIS provides Web systems and support for 16 NHS Trusts including 7 Primary Care Trusts and 4 major Acute Hospitals.

The Plone solution was proposed by Peter White - a senior Surrey HIS Manager with responsibility for Web development across the Surrey Area.

"Our choice wasn't only based on cost...the Plone system came top in terms of performance and features too." Said Mr White - a senior Surrey HIS Manager.  He explained "In the past open source has been shrouded in mystery with decision makers often considering open source systems as unstable, insecure and without support making them unsuitable for mainstream business applications.  However this opinion is changing as more and more organizations both in the private and public sectors opt for open source systems as a cost effective fully supported and secure solution."

Aidan McGuire, Sales Director at Blue Fountain Systems said "This decision by Surrey HIS sends a clear message that open source systems are viable as business solutions and are well able to compete with propriety software applications."

Blue Fountain Systems have also implemented open source content management systems for the Council for Healthcare Excellence (CHRE) and the Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board (PMETB).