Wi-fi Creation
The Rhapsody Wi-fi was created out of the mess, left behind by the patient power project.
Patient Power Project
An idea to put telephone tv and radio at the bedside of every hospital patient. The idea was rolled out to all of the hospitals in the UK. Contracts were awarded to about three or four companies. The costs would be recouped from the charging of the TV and telephone.
When the systems were installed within weeks cracks in the service were appearing. Hospitals are renowned for changing wards and departments around. The cabling of the bedhead systems were the first to suffer as in previous system installs. Patients of a certain age were not users and costs prevented use. Smaller hospital sites were never going to be cost efficient.
Ward 4 Moves to Ward 10
During one of the cost cutting exercises 2011/12 ward four is closed and moved to ward 10.
Our patient power contractor would remove all of their equipment from empty wards, in a manor it could not be easy to return. So when ward 10 had been closed for awhile bedhead systems and cabling were removed and cables cut.
Hospital trust emailed me to ask if we could provide some kind of entertainment for the ward. Not immediately but Wi-fi seemed the logical answer bearing in mind the change in handheld technology.
Rhapsody Wi-fi, free for all to use, 24 hours a day was born.
The full story of Wi-fi can be found on our pages for 2012
