In France, Brive Hospital has selected STid and Vauban Systems to provide access control to its premises and protect patients. Since November 2016, the French Ministry of Health has required all public and private health care facilities to set up a ‘security ‘plan for security of people, property and data. Brive Hospital, the Corrèze département’s largest health care facility and the second largest health care hub in the Limousin region, has put in place a new policy.
Sébastien Caminade, Head of Security at Brive University Hospital said: “Health care facilities are compelled to provide protection against such threats as burglary and intruders, while safeguarding the security of their staff and patients. This explains the need to deliver a new access control system that is reliable, long-lasting and scalable.”
Vauban Systems offers access control and video surveillance via its Visor Access software application, while STid delivers access to premises, offices and treatment rooms with its access control readers from the Architect range, pictured. These readers, which offer a level of security in line with recommendations from the French network and information security agency (ANSSI, Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information), are compatible with the future smart cards for health care staff. Smart cards will provide access to patient files.
Vincent Dupart, CEO, STid said: “The challenge is to preserve the high quality of health care on offer, while ensuring maximum security. Building on our expertise in the field of security, we help simplify day-to-day life for medical staff and ensure that both patients and property are protected.”
This new access control is tailored to the everyday needs of health care: such as non-standard working hours of medical staff, rota changes and staff replacements.
Rodolphe Leiserson, Sales Director at Vauban said: “Our system synchronises in real time with the hospital’s human resources software tool. If it wasn’t updated constantly in this way, it would become obsolete and generate security breaches. We chose to combine our solution with STid access control readers, selected for their high level of security, modularity and compatibility with smart cards for health care professionals. Access control can also be supervised remotely: the operator visualises movements and can operate the doors or trigger alarms from a distance, ensuring maximum protection for people and property.”
Deployment got underway in 2015 and is extended every time the hospital gets a new building. The latest is the maternity ward – one of the so-called “sensitive” departments. The new access control system means premises can be made secure at night, or in exceptional circumstances (if visitors become aggressive, there are threats to a new mother, or the risk of kidnapping). Only authorised categories of personnel have the required access rights.
Sébastien Caminade added: “To date, we have successfully installed around twenty biometric card readers by Vauban Systems for the dispensary as well as the computer rooms, and nearly a hundred STid Architect access control readers for the maternity ward, intensive care, geriatrics, psychiatry and pediatrics. 1,500 users benefit from the solution every day. Although security was not initially part of hospital culture, we have convincingly brought ourselves up to standard! Security must now be a constant concern for all health care professionals.”
