Hospital installs WLAN
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is installing new technology to help improve efficiency and patient care.
A wireless local area network (WLAN) is to be installed allowing staff to share knowledge and take care of admin while still at the patients' bedsides.
The technology will initially be used by around 400 staff but is capable of supporting more than 10,000 devices as well as voice over IP (VoIP) technology.
VoIP won't be added until 2009 but when it arrives it should reduce telecoms costs significantly and further increase staff's communication capabilities.
IT manager Bob Down is expecting the technology to make a real difference to the running of the hospital.
"Wireless is absolutely imperative if we are to deliver the best possible quality of care to our patients," he said.
"With the new network, our clinical staff can instantly confirm that the right patient is receiving the right blood and the right medication, and these checks can be undertaken anywhere in the hospital - at the bedside, in theatre or on the wards.
"We can cut down on the paperwork while improving the safety of the services we offer. This is great for both our staff and our patients."
Staff will be able to securely access any patient's file from anywhere in the hospital and will be able to book patients in for scans, surgery and consultations instantaneously.
The WLAN will be used with patients' wristbands to automate blood donation tracking and will help smooth the process of dispensing drugs.
Once the VoIP technology is installed, staff will be contactable no matter where they are in the building, meaning the traditional doctor's beeper may well become redundant.
LAN technology allows multiple devices in a small geographical area to be linked through a common server.
Two major advantages of LANs are their ability to transfer data at a high rate of knots and the lack of a need for a subscription to a telecommunications service.
Wireless LAN or Wi-Fi and Ethernet (through cables) are the two most common types of LAN.
It is often used in businesses to link a number of machines meaning users have secured access to company data and can easily share knowledge with their colleagues.
Computers attached to a LAN act as terminals and have the ability to store information privately, where only the computer's user can access it, or publicly , where all users on the network can access it.
WLANs essentially allow devices to be moved around within the signal range without having to have a hard (physical) link to the network.
Ethernet LANs also allow devices to access the network throughout the area but require the device to be "plugged in" to the network.
Companies who rely heavily on the performance of their network may look to deploy both types of LAN to ensure that, in the event of one experiencing downtime, the other is available to cover it and keep the business running.
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