Medical privacy

[Ian G Batten]

On Tue, 04 Sep 2001, Jon Ribbens wrote:

> George Ross <gdmr@dcs.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
> > > I imagine they assume mobile phones all round these days. Payphones are
> > > provided as a "service" for those too poor to count.
> > 
> > But aren't you supposed to switch those off?  Or is that just A&E?  (Not 
> > that the signs at Edinburgh's Sick Kids are exactly prominent...)
> 
> You're supposed to turn all mobile phones off, all the time, in all
> sections of hospitals.

It's revenue protection, for the over-priced outsourced phones for
patients, and don't let them tell you otherwise.  Most hospitals have
PMR (probably 70cm, 2W handheld) which is equally a ``risk'', and many
lease space on the roof for mobile phone base stations.  The QE
introduced that policy between the birth of our two children, and
because me wife had a six hour discharge with our second we didn't
bother to ignore it (if you see what I mean).  I stepped outside to
phone the grand-parents to tell them of Ruth's arrival.  For Sarah, our
elder, my wife was able to phone her parents from the delivery suite,
and was very glad to have done so.

ian