3G mobile networks are proving inadequate for use in the community, according to speakers from Birmingham and the Bristol area at a session at Smart Healthcare Live.
"If you have a 3G network which is good enough to roll out connectivity at the moment, you're in a better area than I live in," Adrian Byrne, director of information management and technology at Southampton University Hospitals trust, told the event. The trust has been using mobile devices to support midwives working in the community.
"3G networks are not in a place where they can be reliably used," added Andy Kinnear, head of the Avon IM&T Consortium which supports primary care providers in and around Bristol. It has been running trials of mobile devices over the last 12 months.
Kinnear added that the hopes of increased productivity, through stopping staff from coming into the office at the start of the day, have not been fully realised as many continue to do so even when issued with mobile devices. "The fact is, they like doing it," he said, for the professional and social interaction.
