Staff, patients and visitors at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital are now benefitting from all-operator mobile connectivity after partnering with connectivity infrastructure-as-a-service provider Freshwave. Freshwave have deployed a 4G distributed antenna system (DAS) in the hospital which provides assured mobile connectivity no matter which network (EE, Virgin Media O2, or VodafoneThree) users are on.
The government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England includes an ambition to shift services from analogue to digital. Even more recently NHS Online was announced, an “online hospital” that will not have a physical site, instead digitally connecting patients to expert clinicians anywhere in England. Having the right hospital connectivity in place to facilitate these ambitions is essential. Hospitals, with their thick walls and complex layouts, often block mobile signal from penetrating from outdoors. This leaves mobile devices inside without the connectivity they need to operate effectively, as hospital Wi-Fi is sometimes overburdened and fails.
A dedicated indoor multi-operator mobile system connects securely into the mobile network operators’ networks, guaranteeing a robust quality of service. It allows teams to communicate using a variety of technologies and for peer-to-peer healthcare messaging apps to work seamlessly, so clinicians and staff don’t have to waste time trying to find a place in the hospital with the right connectivity. This allows them to work more efficiently and spend more time with patients. It also allows patients and visitors to stay in touch with loved ones while in hospital.
John Wintour-Pittom, North West London Acute Provider Collaborative Deputy Chief Information Officer – Trust Director of ICT, said: “Seamless mobile signal is an essential foundation for a modern hospital wanting to provide the best possible patient-centred care. Digital tools like Alertive’s healthcare coordination app enable streamlined collaboration between teams caring for patients, but need a resilient mobile connectivity layer so they can function at all times.
“Our fantastic IT team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, together with colleagues from Estates, have worked extremely hard on this project and we are pleased to see the system is now live and benefitting colleagues and patients.”
Simon Frumkin, Freshwave’s CEO, said: “We’re delighted to have brought another NHS hospital all-operator mobile connectivity. By bringing mobile coverage indoors, we’re ensuring that staff can access critical digital tools without interruption, patients can stay connected with their families, and hospital operations run more smoothly. Projects like this demonstrate how tailored connectivity solutions can make a real difference in healthcare, supporting better experiences for everyone on site.”
Freshwave’s healthcare Mobile Connectivity ROI Index, which surveyed 100 leaders across NHS and healthcare organisations, revealed that improving indoor mobile connectivity could unlock £3.74 bn in value for the sector.
This nearly matches the £3.8 bn leaders estimate is currently lost due to poor connectivity. Boosting workforce productivity is identified as the top opportunity, with 62% of respondents highlighting it as a key benefit of enhanced 4G/5G coverage. Meanwhile, 65% of healthcare organisations say that the growing demand for remote patient monitoring and management is driving the need for better indoor mobile connectivity.
