Patientline Protest May 1st

mspig

The company has just borrowed another £80million from the bank.
They have sold off their european business as they found it would take them 200years to start making a profit from it.
They also sold of their American business which went through in December.

I know also in the Northwest alone the worst performing sites are having the equipment removed which works out at 10 hospitals.

mandybear

When I was in hospital after having my baby you were allowed to use mobiles in the ward - in fact they told you that you could in the literature they gave you before. It was great to be able to keep in contact and text while there! Also took loads of photos on my phone which I sent to people.

Victor_Delta

If you want to make your feelings on this subject known to the government, then go to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/hospitalphones/

V

mustrum_ridcully

mountainofdebt wrote: »

Can someone tell me if it is true that mobile phones no longer interfere with hospital equipement.

The Government agency that deals with these things - MHRA (Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) - say the following about modern digital cellphones (as opposed to the old analogue ones):

* A total ban on these systems is not required and is impossible to enforce effectively.
* Should be switched off near critical care or life support medical equipment.
* Should be used only in designated areas.
* Authorised health and social care staff and external service personnel should always comply with local rules regarding use.

In otherwords in a normal ward a mobile should be perfectly OK. Unfortunately hospitals are allowed to make-up their own rules as to where they are and aren't allowed.

ryouga

Im an ex Patientline employee, I know the stress of working there was terrible as I got constant abuse from patients threatening to bomb the call centre, put curses on me, sue me personally.

What im getting at is for all means run this scummy company into the ground, but think about the staff, like I was who only get part time contracts(another money saving scheme) and minimum wage and get constant abuse., which will increase if the sytems arent used, as the company will use that as an excuse to fire loads more staff.

mspig

Patientline have contracts drawn up with the hospitals that they have their phone/tv systems in which states that mobile phones are not to be allowed to be used in the wards which have the phone/tv systems. Even though the government has lifted the ban on mobiles being used in hopitals patientline have sent fresh letters out to the hospitals telling them that their contract still stands and that the staff are to ask staff to stop patients from using their mobiles.

However most of the nursing staff don't agree with the high cost of the phone systes so the turn a blind eye to the patients using their mobiles.

beautifulgorgeous_2

My mobile didnt get any reception in my mums ward. The tv used to be half price for oaps now it is £2.90 for 24 hrs and if as I did you put a tenner on it then you lose the last £2.30 as you cant pro rata a day. If you do activate it make sure you ask for units of 2.90 esp if you do not use the phone. (£3.50 is the minimum !)

rdwarr

LittleVoice wrote: »

And you don't need to turn your mobile phone off when you are at a petrol station - sparks don't jump from your mobile to ignite the petrol fumes.

OK, this is way off-topic but worthy of a reply. What you say is true if the phone is working properly but sometimes they don't (and you won;t necessarily know). Whilst working in the Industry I saw CCTV footage of a forecourt explosion in Turkey caused by a spark from a phone.

I'd rather obey the signs anyway - why break the rules when they're there out of genuine concerns for safety?