'Patient Power'
I have an understanding with the medical business - they leave me alone, and I leave them alone, so this tale is not one that impacts me directly, however, it is a absolute scandal.
For many years, we've all been led to believe that mobile phones interfere with medical equipment, but this turns out to be a huge lie: "There are no safety reasons why mobile phones cannot be used, a leaked Department of Health report admits." (Source). It turns out that the ban continues as hospitals are coining it from a contract with a telecoms provider that charges "up to 75p a minute for incoming calls from mobiles and 49p from landlines". This particular programme is called 'Patient Power'. Classy.
For many years, we've all been led to believe that mobile phones interfere with medical equipment, but this turns out to be a huge lie: "There are no safety reasons why mobile phones cannot be used, a leaked Department of Health report admits." (Source). It turns out that the ban continues as hospitals are coining it from a contract with a telecoms provider that charges "up to 75p a minute for incoming calls from mobiles and 49p from landlines". This particular programme is called 'Patient Power'. Classy.
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on Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 10:58 am.
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This was discussed in the Welsh Assembly earlier this year.
I too was shocked to discover that mobile phones don't interfere with medical equipment and that the only reason for banning them is to charge ridiculous prices for in-house phone systems.
I shall make a point of using my mobile next time the NHS tries to kill me.
That hits sweet spot C .My GP confided this to me a while a go so he could use his while I was in the room .
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As someone with recent experience of having a family member in an NHS hospital for some period of time I can only agree that the phone charges are a complete rip-off. Also the consultants on the ward - a high dependency cardiac facility - were quite happy to answer calls on their mobiles right next to the monitors etc that we are told mobiles interfere with.
It seems to depend on the distance from medical equipment, see e.g. Electromagnetic interference in critical care:
"Mobile communication and wireless data transmission are playing an increasing role in health care. Reports describing medical device malfunction related to cellular phones have raised awareness about the problem of electromagnetic interference. Although initial institutional responses were to ban cellular devices in hospitals, these restrictions are relaxing as the knowledge base in this area expands. Medical device malfunction is extremely rare if the distance from the transmitting device is greater than 1 m. This article reviews the current understanding of electromagnetic interference as it applies to the technology-rich critical care environment."
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