Poole hospital goes wireless

Poole Hospital is to install a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) with a view to using a VoIP solution for its telephone needs in 2009.

The network will allow 400 staff access when it is first introduced and will be able to support over 10,000 devices - more than enough room for VoIP hardware like VoIP phones.

It is hoped the WLAN will improve patient care in the 789-bed hospital - for example by automating various processes and making records more readily available - with the IP telephony solution to help reduce costs.

"We can cut down on the paperwork while improving the safety of the services we offer," said the hospital trust's IT manager Bob Down.

"This is great for both our staff and our patients."

There is an increasing demand for WLANs in the health sector, as hospital staff find mobile devices allow them to work more efficiently compared with paper and pencil methods.

Some worrying news has surface recently regarding technology in hospitals however.

A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the chip needed by Radio Frequency ID - which is used to identify patients - may interfere with medical equipment.