Texting (unofficially?) OK in UK hospitals; Phone calls by mobile? Prohibited.

By on October 16, 2006 in Services

Link: Adam’s blog

I caught Adam’s recent blog about his friend who unfortunately had an accident recently. Adam points of that once you’ve established your friend injured, you want to give’em a call:

The first thing that you want to do is to call them. In this case I got a text from them on their mobile saying ‘call me on this number’, odd as the last I heard, you were not allowed to use your personal mobile phone on NHS wards?

Apparently, recounts Adam, the hospital staff told his friend that it’s ok to text. But if you want to call anyone, you have to use the bedside phones provided (at absolutely ridiculous rates) and NOT your mobile phone. Strange, eh? I wonder if there’s a special clause in the telephone supplier contract saying ‘patients must be advised not to use their mobile phone to conduct telephone calls, as we want the cash.’

Or, I wonder if Adam’s friend was using his mobile when he shouldn’t have been! I thought mobiles ‘effected’ equipment.

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  • http://invalid.name dan lane

    Hmm if mobiles affected equipment so much, why would they allow them to locate cell towers on top of hospitals!, and why are doctors allowed to use their phones but not patients?, I don’t doubt that there are certain machines that could be affected by mobiles being in close range but I doubt there is any real technical reason why the whole hospital is off limits.

    Sounds fishy to me, especially since the NHS bedside phones are so expensive.

    Apparently, according to the NHS “The cost of installing a system at a large acute hospital is estimated to be around £1million.”… I reckon half of which is associated with red-tape!

    Wait till some idiot gives hospitals a license to run pico-cells inside their walls and charge roaming costs. As is currently happening on planes… all of a sudden it might not be so dangerous to use a mobile on planes now they can make some quick money!

  • http://www.sendmytxt.co.uk Alex

    There was a report about this recently, saying that the safety concerns were unfounded.. have a read of http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2401913,00.html

  • http://www.paul-ray.co.uk Paul

    As part of a very accident prone family, i visit someone at my local hospital about every two months…
    there are two main reasons that you cant use your own mobiles in hospitals

    Firstly, Mobiles give out radio waves which although dont ‘affect’ machines physically, can alter readings on instruments such as heart monitors and dialisys machines and possibly force an incorrect medication. This case is generally only for severe and/or intensive care units which most people accept and are willing to comply with.

    The second reason (which is the most common) is that most people don’t want to be disturbed and therefore dont want the crazy frog going off in their ear every five minutes while they are trying to recover. This has nothing to do with equipment but is actually just a calming measure to keep stress levels as low as possible for all patients.

    Most hospitals that offer their own phones don’t offer them for ‘open’ wards but generally only for single room patients (although there are exceptions).
    And yes, they do get a kick back from the operator for call charges and for any credit bought that is unused by the patient.

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