Having to pay for web access in hospital literally adds insult to injury. David Crookes looks at government plans for free Wi-Fi in all hospitals
Free Wi-Fi? What sort of sweet pill is that?
A very good one, we’d say. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has made plenty of enemies within the NHS but his proposal to provide free Wi-Fi in all health-service buildings has been widely welcomed. It was one of a number of ideas put forward to the National Information Board in a government-commissioned report by Martha Lane Fox, the co-founder of Lastminute.com and now Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho. Mr Hunt said that: “Everyone using the NHS expects it to be a world leader in digital healthcare and free Wi-Fi is an essential part of making that a reality”.
Don’t some hospitals already have free Wi-Fi?
Two-thirds of NHS hospitals offer the internet to patients as a paid-for option through third-parties. WiFi Spark (bit.ly/wifispark389), for example, provides Wi-Fi to hospitals in Leicester, Liverpool and Chesterfield among others and charges £3 for four hours, £5 for a day, £10 for a week and £15 for a month. Hospedia (www.hospedia.co.uk) gives at least 15 minutes of free Wi-Fi but charges for more time in some locations. Even when hospitals offer unlimited Wi-Fi minutes, they often limit the access to specific wards, units or areas.
But why have free Wi-Fi in all hospitals?
There are two main reasons, other than it’s often difficult to get a mobile signal in hospitals. The first is to allow patients to use their phones, tablets and even laptops, both to keep in touch with friends and family and to alleviate their boredom. This is seen as important to the wellbeing of patients: last year the Royal College of Psychiatrists reported a high prevalence of boredom among hospital patients and said engaging with “psychosocial needs” helps to manage the gruelling experience of sickness.
The second reason is to make it easier for staff to access clinical services and use cutting-edge technology to help care for patients. Baroness Lane-Fox quoted Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s national medical director, as saying junior doctors identified Wi-Fi as the one change that would make their jobs easier.
How does Wi-Fi help doctors?
Around 70% of a junior doctor’s time is said to be spent on bureaucracy and it is believed that Wi-Fi would make administrative tasks more efficient. The idea is that by freeing up time otherwise spent on laborious paperwork, they will have more hours in the day to dedicate to patients. The Department of Health also says errors in medication can be cut by 50% with more use of e-prescriptions.
So patients will benefit medically from free Wi-Fi?
Theoretically, yes. Baroness Lane-Fox says patients will be able to monitor their conditions using apps, and this element of self-care and self-management will take some of the pressure off medics. By using Wi-Fi-enabled wearables such as skin sensors and asthma and diabetes monitors, patients can be constantly and remotely monitored, easing NHS staffing problems. As well as being able to book appointments and repeat prescriptions, patients will also be encouraged to fill out online surveys for instant feedback.
Won’t patients Google illnesses to second-guess doctors?
Granted, it will be easier to use the net to self-diagnose if Wi-Fi becomes widely available in hospitals, but it’s not advisable. A growing number of ‘cyberchrondriacs’ – people who search online for diseases that match their symptoms – are increasing the workload on doctors. A survey by private medical helpline Dr Morton published in January 2016 said that 16 million people a month are diagnosing themselves online and demanding that doctors treat them. Doctors say using the web to self-diagnose only leads patients to worry.
Who is paying for the scheme?
Money is being made available from a £1bn technology fund – a pot created by the last government in September 2013 with the aim of improving patient care and easing pressure on A&E departments. Although it supports local IT solutions to local problems (the fund was created in the same month as the abandoned NHS IT system that was said to have cost £9.8bn), the Wi-Fi initiative is a national plan.
Is everyone happy with the proposal?
While some say it will allow patients to continue with their day-to-day lives, others have expressed concerns that the money set to be spent on free Wi-Fi could be better used on frontline clinical services. Grant Ingrams, deputy chairman of the IT subcommittee of the BMA General Practitioners Committee, expressed grave concerns and said that it was an “unaffordable luxury”. Writing in the British Medical Journal, he believed it would “adversely affect” the relationship between the NHS and its staff, patients and the public, and he also feared that people would visithospitals purely to use the free Wi-Fi. Indeed, there are concerns that doctors and medical staff will have their important work persistently interrupted by patients asking for help to log into services and deal with IT problems.
Has this happened in other places where Wi-Fi is free?
There do not appear to be any obvious cases. Many NHS hospitals began offering free Wi-Fi in 2015 and they have appeared happy with the outcome.
Why has free Wi-Fi suddenly become an issue, though?
It hasn’t. Free Wi-Fi in hospitals has been on the agenda for years with NHS England’s former director of patients and information Tim Kelsey a staunch supporter of it up until he left in December. Indeed, in 2011, designers were called in by the Department of Health to come up with ideas to help make A&E visits at Southampton Hospital, Chesterfield Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London more pleasant. They said free Wi-Fi would keep potentially disruptive patients occupied. Furthermore, the Personalised Health and Care 2020 report drawn up under the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government looked at the use of digital technology to improve patients’ experience and outcomes.
When will all NHS hospitals switch to free Wi-Fi?
No firm deadline has been set but it’s understood that the Health Secretary expects all NHS buildings in the UK to have free public Wi-Fi by 2020, and that the NHS will be “digital and paperless” by this time. Then again, in September 2013, Mr Hunt went on record to say: “I’ve set the NHS the challenge of going paperless by 2018”. There will inevitably be some slippage in any timetables that are set although some hospitals are already making great strides towards digitising their records. For example, Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals have a fully digital patient-information system called SmartCare.