I have to admit, I never thought of cell phones being a problem in hospitals. It makes sense, though. There’s a good bit of expensive, electronic equipment all over the place and phones just love to get in there and mess with all that. This is, of course, why they’re not allowed on airplanes.
Recently, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency put the clamp down on cell phone use in hospitals, but have decided to relax some of its rules due to the overreach they had. The agency did state, however, that more restrictions may be coming due to new concerns. Some of the reasons cell phone restrictions are being pushed, such as camera phones being a risk to patient privacy, seem a bit far-fetched.
I don’t know anyone that would walk around a hospital, just taking pictures of every sick person one sees. The Department of Health is also worried about ring tones that sound like medical equipment. Though, the biggest reason to not have cell phones in hospitals (interference with machinery) has been described as “merely an irritation and ultimately harmless to the patient.”
In the end, this seems to be one of those “Damned if you do/Damned if you don’t” situations where cell phones could be used as much more productive tools than pagers for doctors, but they could also be a nuisance to patients.
Concern over new rules on mobile phones in hospitals [Eureka Alert]
Over here in the UK cell phones (or mobiles as we like to call them) are banned in all hospitals and clinics. The reason given has always been that it may interfere with hospital equipment, although now that almost all phones have camera’s and new one’s increasingly reach 2 or 3 megapixels it makes sense to keep them out for that reason too.
Here’s the way I see it. Cell phones can interfere with medical equipment, most especially wireless heart monitors. Are they likely to? I doubt it. I would even say it’s not very likely at all. But it’s still possible. We’re talking about the possibility that something could happen that would negatively impact patient care. In other words, someone could get sicker or even die if something does happen. Is that a risk we want to take? Better wait until you or one of your loved ones is the patient before you answer.
This appears to only apply to the United Kingdom.
We have been using cell phones in our hospital for years without any problem. In the past, it was virtually impossible to keep patients and families from using cell phones (even in the ICU with multiple monitoring devices, respirators, etc.)
I know of some hospitals which have even set up repeaters in hospitals to increase signal.
Can’t see ever going back to not using cell phones in hospitals!
I’d rather see them banned from restaurants!