UK Will Get Free Wi-Fi in Every NHS Building

[Thakur]

The UK health secretary promised to provide free Wi-Fi in all NHS buildings in order to “improve medical treatment and patient experience”. The money will come from a £1bn technology fund in a bid to improve a patchy service. At the moment, some hospitals charge for Internet access, while others do not provide Wi-Fi at all. It is currently unknown how many NHS facilities already provide free Wi-Fi. Besides, no deadline has been set for it to be available throughout the NHS.

The changes were suggested in a report on improving the use of online technology in the health service, which was commissioned by the government. Access to Wi-Fi will allow British patients to stay in contact with family and friends more easily and entertain themselves. In addition, the government believes that the use of technologies will also allow to greatly cut paperwork and errors and help alert doctors and nurses to medical problems.

Already, in some hospitals you can see how mobile clinical systems and tablets are replacing paper charts. This approach allows to quickly spot and act on potentially problematic changes in vital signs and share data around the building. According to the government, greater use of e-prescribing allows to halve medication errors. Finally, patients will also be able to wear monitors in order to alert medical staff to issues – this approach could help more than 20% of diabetics who have experienced a “largely avoidable” hypoglycemic episode while in hospital.

The UK health secretary claimed that everyone using the National Health Service expects it to be a world leader in digital healthcare. Therefore, free Wi-Fi should be an essential part of making that a reality. It will give patients and staff the ability to access the required services and free up clinical time while reducing overall costs.