Free Wi-Fi service for patients and visitors

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUH) has launched a free guest Wi-Fi system so that patients and visitors will now be able to use their smartphones and tablets to surf the net in many areas across the Trust's four hospitals.

Currently available across the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospital sites, it is planned to roll out Wi-Fi across the Trust's other hospitals - the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Horton General Hospital - by the autumn.

This will be a secure service working alongside, but completely separate from, the clinical network, (which is solely used by Trust staff).

Users simply select the 'OUH-Guest' network on their device, at which point they will be taken to a 'welcome' page. No password is required but users will be required to enter an email address.

Catherine Stoddart, Chief Nurse, said: "We are seeing more and more patients and visitors using modern technology such as smartphones, laptops and tablet PCs. Communication via the internet is something that most of us take for granted but if you are in a hospital bed and you suddenly don't have that facility on your own device, it can be quite frustrating. We made the decision to offer free Wi-Fi to give more flexibility and control to our patients over the way they communicate while they are here."