Hospitals advised to end mobile phone bans

1

photos - advice

Pete.marsh@whnt.nhs.uk

07 Jan 09 12:44

I trust the central advice will include advice on use of camera phones. I have seen them in the past be used by patients to record patients blogs and be imported onto web sites, with images of other patients inadvertently (or otherwise) be included in such images.

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2

Exceptions

andy.hadley@ferndown.nhs.uk

07 Jan 09 19:34

I always found it wonderfully hypocrytical that the one group of users that were never tackled on Mobiles were hospital consultants, who would be far too important to a) turn off their phone when it ITU, and b) to be tackled about it. The inverse square radiation law applies, and there were genuine concerns about close proximity interference with drip-pumps and other equipment found in many wards and departments. These fears have presumably been assuaged, or the medical equipment generally made more resilient.

The issue raised above about other patients in photos as collateral is almost impossible to police. The use of pocket devices to record conversations as well as take photos or video clips likewise. Especially for the generation who record many aspects of their life on You-tube, Facebook and the like.

Hospitals are a pretty public place. It must mostly be down to the individuals, though I guess it becomes a police and NHS concern if vulnerable patients were targetted, or candid shots of VIPs in care were publicised, or if NHS staff were to originate the photos.

There is also a social isolation, and equity of access issue around the tarrifs charged for 'entertainment'. It is a shame the NHS didn't take back control of the bedhead.

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3

@ Andy

alan.hope@virgin.net

08 Jan 09 10:18

Perhaps just at your hospital - here Consultants were stopped using mobiles, despite the hospital not running a personal staff pager system (too expensive - so limited to emergency on-call staff).

Communications are actually important to the efficient running of a hospital and simply banning the only way for a doctor to be easily contacted, without any effort to set up an alternative, was probably far more dangerous than the much-debated "risk" of interference with medical equipment.

Curiously the porters were still able to use high-powered walkie-talkies throughout the hospital, often within a close vertical distance of ITU equipment (ie floor above / below).

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4

Mobiles are for more than working, but common sense needs to prevail

williamdowell@gmail.com

09 Jan 09 00:20

As a patient who spends a lot of time in Outpatients, I have to admit I've been using my phone for the past 5 (if not more) years. I have always asked the hospital staff and they all give the nod.

I've always been discreet - making sure the phone is on "silent" (and not even vibrate), and avoided calls - preferring email or sms WITHOUT the keytone, which - i am the first to admit would drive everybody crazy. If I'm being assessed / in a consultation etc, obviously i turn it off and give the staff my undivided attention.

For patients who have to spend hours either waiting or have drips etc we're missing work or studies. Mobile phones aren't just for chatting to your friends about what you ate for breakfast - they're for work. I wish that hospitals would open up Wi-fi networks (even if with a charge).

I just hope that common courtesy and sense is widespread. I can see plenty of potential for abuse, privacy issues, photos, videos on youtube, etc. I can think of nothing worse than a ward full of people talking with inane conversations and ringtones blaring!

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5

Quiet Wards

andy.hadley@ferndown.nhs.uk

09 Jan 09 20:02

Forget single sex wards (that is hard enough)- wake up following your operation to find - horror of horrors - "Quiet zone : please dont use your mobile phone on this ward"

There is also a security issue with letting patients have their electonic wizardry with them. It is difficult enough to protect staff personal belongings (and NHS Property) from opportunistic theives, but phones, pdas and laptops. Hold onto your valuables !

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6

End the Mobile Phone Ban in Hospitals

copha_ar_am@yahoo.com

14 Jan 09 07:10

By Joseph J. Morrissey (http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/aug07/5473) Does anyone know a doctor without a mobile phone? In the United States, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll, approximately 74 percent of the adult population subscribe to mobile phone service, and various sources estimate the average individual talk time per month is about 7 hours. Thus it is only logical that people bringing mobile phones and other transmitting personal electronic devices such as Blackberries, iPhones, and wireless laptops into hospitals have an expectation of using them. For doctors, these devices have evolved from a mere convenience to an essential part of medical practice. Patients and visitors are also increasingly dependent upon wireless communication, especially during times of happiness or crisis. But is the use of mobile phones and other transmitting devices in hospitals safe?

As the wireless revolution gathered steam at the end of the last century, many hospitals reacted to concern over electromagnetic interference with critical medical equipment by implementing precautionary bans on mobile phones throughout the facility. As policing of bans has become increasingly impractical and the benefits of wireless communication argue for a better solution, a growing number of hospitals have relaxed enforcement or adopted more liberal policies. Without an appropriate management strategy, however, the unrestricted use of mobile phones may make hospitals vulnerable to potentially dangerous, albeit uncommon, electromagnetic interference risks.

The situation becomes even more complex as hospitals enthusiastically deploy Wi-Fi networks to wirelessly shuttle medical information within their facilities (for example, electrocardiograms from ambulatory cardiac patient telemetry units to monitors at nurse’s stations, drug library updates to infusion pumps, patient lab test results to a doctor’s PDA, and server information to wireless laptops). The hospital’s wireless repertoire may soon include additional low-power, short-range wireless links, like Bluetooth and ZigBee, to support patient monitoring devices, as well as broadband wireless links, like WiMax, to transport large or real-time data streams.

Although accreditation groups, such as the Joint Commission, require hospitals to present a strategy for management of mobile phones, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is preparing guidance on wireless medical telemetry, there previously existed no comprehensive set of recommendations to manage wireless in hospitals. As a result, individual policies crafted by hospitals are inconsistent and often do not fully address issues such as electromagnetic interference, the need for different wireless systems to interoperate, and the need for medical data to be transported with necessary speed, accuracy, reliability, and priority.

To bridge this gap, engineers representing mobile phone manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, hospitals, and government regulatory agencies have collectively developed a set of internationally recognized guidance documents including the International Standards Organization ISO TR #21730 (2006), Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation AAMI TIR 18 (1997, revision ongoing), and the IEEE 11073-00101 (2007). These guidance documents outline a consistent strategy to identify and mitigate electromagnetic interference risks, and facilitate more reliable and robust wireless transport across existing wireless networks. The Bluetooth special interest group, IEEE 802.15, and the ZigBee Alliance are working to further optimize available wireless technology for the transport of medical data. Following the simple strategies outlined in these organizations’ guidance documents will enable hospitals to more smoothly and safely integrate into the wireless world.

Gunadarma University http://gunadarma.ac.id

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7

Mobile phone litigation potential

william.m.young@team.telstra.com

05 Feb 09 01:21

Most mobile phones now have extended functionality, including camera and video/sound recording capabilities. The opportunity for patients and visitors to take inappropriate photographs or videos presents the greatest potential to interfere with patient and staff dignity and privacy and protection. Mobile phones should not be switched on or used in clinical areas, including wards and all areas should be clearly marked with appropriate signage.

The use of such camera devices poses serious and "often-neglected" security and privacy issues for healthcare providers. The position should be that camera phones should be considered cameras and handled as such. Simply stated by a hospital officer, "We are looking to ban them from our premises as we currently ban 'cameras' without Administrative permission."

Medical confidentiality is a “vital principle” crucial to privacy and to confidence in the medical profession and in the health services in general. Permitting the use of mobile phones with cameras in hospitals is unlikely to sufficiently respect medical confidentiality or indeed each patient’s right to respect for his/her private life. It is almost impossible to detect whether mobile phones, most of which now incorporate cameras and video recording devices, are being used to take photographs and with built in e-mail transmission capability, photographs can be sent anywhere and to large numbers of people within moments of being taken. For this reason, many other facilities are banning the use of mobile phones, including schools, swimming pools and sports centres.

There have already been a significant number of incidents where inappropriate photographs have been taken some of which have resulted in litigation against hospitals who did not have a stated policy and relevant signage. Given the difficulty of detection there is a risk that there will be many more cases where photographs are taken, unknown and undetected.