Expansion of free guest Wi-Fi at Southend University Hospital
17 February 2016
Health Care
Patients, visitors and guests at Southend University Hospital are now able to connect to the internet in more areas of the hospital than before thanks to the expansion of the guest Wi-Fi.
The free service, originally launched by the trust's IT
department in 2014, has been extended to a number of new locations
including the emergency department, day surgical unit, paediatric
outpatient department and chemotherapy unit in the hospital's
Carlingford centre. This followed extensive work with the
hospital's medical equipment management service (MEMS) to update
wireless heart monitors, ensuring that the WiFi facility didn't
interfere with essential equipment.
Head of IT, Alan Tuckwood said: "I'm delighted that we have been
able to expand the coverage of our free guest Wi-Fi service to
other areas of the hospital.
"The trust previously implemented a Wi-Fi network to provide
clinical staff with wireless access to information which is
completely secure and separate from the new guest Wi-Fi
service. This technology has given us the opportunity to use
our existing investment to deliver the free service for our
patients, visitors and guests to enhance their experience.
"The feedback received so far has been very positive and this
expansion will provide even more flexibility for our patients and
guests to use the Wi-Fi while they are visiting the hospital."
Signage will be in place to clearly identify the new
hotspots where users can connect to the wireless network on their
smart phone or tablet, agree to the terms of use and start browsing
quickly and easily with just a couple of clicks.