The NHS Wi-Fi project continues to move at pace. In just 12 months, over 3000 GP practices are now offering free NHS Wi-Fi to over 25 million patients. Most of our 16 ‘high priority’ trusts who received funding in August have now rolled out Wi-Fi across their estates and the remainder are expected to do so before the end of February.
It’s been a busy time for all involved. The NHS Wi-Fi team has been supporting all CCGs and priority adopter trusts to procure and deliver an NHS Wi-Fi compliant system to patients. I’ve been really impressed by the hard work, commitment and pace of local NHS teams and their industry partners to deliver NHS Wi-Fi services – an important piece of the digital jigsaw.
It’s also been great to see how Wi-Fi has not only helped patients to access digital tools and information which enable them to learn more about their conditions and help to manage their own health and care but also to hear the heart-warming stories of how Wi-Fi has supported patients while receiving care. This has included at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospital (DBTH) where patients were able to watch a live stream of Doncaster’s annual panto direct to their wards, and where a patient who was too ill to travel to Canada to watch a relative’s wedding, was able to watch the ceremony in real time through Skype from his hospital bed.
I’m delighted to confirm that the journey doesn’t stop here. We’ve now agreed a further 33 ‘fast follower’ trusts to form part of the next stage of delivery. Each of these trusts will be aiming to deliver before the end of March 2018.
Next steps
Over the next few weeks we’ll be supporting the last few CCG areas and ‘fast follower’ trusts to complete their implementations.
We’ll be working hard to secure and put in place the support required to help the rest of the secondary care estate to offer free NHS Wi-Fi to patients in acute, community and mental health hospitals by the end of December 2018.
We’ll also be looking to capture more stories of how free NHS Wi-Fi is connecting patients and staff to digital tools and services to help patients better manage their care and relieve pressures on frontline services.
We’re always keen to hear from patients and from those working in the NHS. Get in touch if you’d like to share your story or if you’d like to know more about NHS Wi-Fi [email protected].