A new, faster FollowMe desktop is coming to Northern Health staff, commencing from tonight at 6 pm (Friday).

David Ryan, CIO, explained the new desktops will be based on Windows 10, compared to the current ones which are running Windows 7, and are expected to work faster, reduce any lagging and will also be able to run Microsoft Teams. The log-in page will also have a new look.

“A better user experience is coming, along with up-to-date software and latest Office apps and integrated MS Teams. The new desktop will also be more compliant and more secure. The users that haven’t been migrated yet will see the familiar Windows 7 environment, while the ones migrated will go to Windows 10,” he said.

The environment and some of the buttons will look different, but the applications that staff normally use will stay the same. The tap on – tap off feature in clinical areas will remain as it is currently operating.

The change to the modernised FollowMe desktop will be gradual – with our testers and most frequent users being the first to transition.

After that, rollout will continue by departments and wards like ICU, Allied Health, different wards etc. All users are expected to be transitioned to the Windows 10 FollowMe desktop in the next two to three weeks.

Lawrence Buxton, ICT Project Manager, suggests that prior to transition, staff who have documents currently saved on their current FollowMe desktop, should save them into the ‘Documents’ folder within their H: drive to ensure they can be accessed once the transition is complete.

“Let’s say you work from home one day, and at the office the next. If you save all the documents you are working on in the FollowMe Desktop ‘Documents’ folder, you will have access to them when you come to work and to your PC. With the new FollowMe Desktop, although you won’t be able to save big documents on the desktop, the experience will be fast and ensure access across devices. That way, if anything happens to your desktop, you haven’t lost your documents,” he added.

Staff will be notified via email or SMS before they get switched to the new FollowMe desktop, including the transition date and the instructions.

More information can be found on the FollowMe Intranet page.