A HOSPITAL is expanding its Wi-Fi services to enable more people to connect to the internet in more areas of the hospital than before.

The free service at Southend Hospital, originally launched by the trust’s IT department in 2014, has been extended to a number of new locations including the emergency department, day surgical unit, paediatric outpatient department and chemotherapy unit in the hospital’s Carlingford centre.

This followed extensive work with the hospital’s medical equipment management service (MEMS) to update wireless heart monitors, ensuring that the WiFi facility didn’t interfere with essential equipment.

The hospital’s head of IT Alan Tuckwood said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to expand the coverage of our free guest Wi-Fi service to other areas of the hospital.

“The trust previously implemented a Wi-Fi network to provide clinical staff with wireless access to information which is completely secure and separate from the new guest Wi-Fi service. “This technology has given us the opportunity to use our existing investment to deliver the free service for our patients, visitors and guests to enhance their experience. “The feedback received so far has been very positive and this expansion will provide even more flexibility for our patients and guests to use the Wi-Fi while they are visiting the hospital.”

Signage will be in place to clearly identify the new hotspots where users can connect to the wireless network on their smart phone or tablet, agree to the terms of use and start browsing quickly and easily with just a couple of clicks.