Mobile Phone Reviews
 
 
Hospital mobile phone rules outdated

Mon, 16 Oct 2006

NHS patients and staff should be able to use mobile phones in most areas of hospitals, say experts.

They claim it is a "myth" that mobiles put patients at risk and say managers are hiding behind politically correct safety concerns to ban their use.

Dr Stuart Derbyshire of Birmingham University and Dr Adam Burgess of Kent University claim that mobile phone rules are too strict considering the fact that the phones do not interfere with the medical equipment in hospitals. A previous study conducted by UK's Medical Devices Agency eight years ago showed that only 4 percent of the medical devices were affected by mobiles placed one meter from the equipments. The experts also said that mobile phones could positively affect communication between the medical stuff.

A report in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) said, "Doctors and pharmacists would benefit from using mobile phones rather than pagers, and many patients in hospital would welcome the opportunity to relieve their isolation without resorting to expensive hospital phones that are cumbersome to use." However, Dr Stuart Derbyshire and Dr Adam Burgess admitted that phone ring tones and message alerts could be annoying for patients recovering in hospitals .

The report added, "Sensible caution regarding the proximity of mobile phones to medical equipment is thus warranted, but concerns about patient safety alone do not justify zealously enforced no-phone areas, which can cause arguments between staff, patients and visitors."

Phones may also be annoying, but no more so than televisions or stereos, they said.

Moreover, it was said banning camera-phones in medical centers is effective as it protects the patients' privacy.
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