South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has partnered with Virgin Media O2 Business to become a 5G-connected hospital.
The programme is part of Maudsley Digital Lab’s series of digital health and innovation trials funded by NHS Digital. The trials are investigating the efficiency, safety and security benefits of using smart, 5G-connected technologies in NHS hospitals. They are a collaborative development between South London and Maudsley, NHS Digital, Virgin Media O2 Business, Bruhati and Nokia, to explore IoT (Internet of Things), AR (Augmented Reality) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies.
The private network will provide dedicated connectivity across a number of use cases:
- The Maudsley Smart Hospital and Maudsley Smart Pharmacy: a trial is now live across two wards at Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London, focusing on e-Observations, where clinicians use handheld devices to update patient records.
- Connected smart devices and smart monitoring (Internet of Things, or IoT): the trials will include an IoT innovation lab and platform in partnership with Bruhati, to look at smart, connected use cases including remotely monitoring medicine fridges, tracking air quality inside wards and monitoring occupancy of desks and meeting rooms in the hospital.
- Augmented reality: Virgin Media O2 Business’s AR connected headset, Remote Expert, will be trialled at the hospital to improve IT support. Remote Expert allows specialists to guide on-site workers from another location, allowing on-site IT engineers to get support from experts quickly and easily.
- Artificial intelligence: using spatial insights from Virgin Media O2 Business, South London and Maudsley will be able to use AI to create heat maps and understand how people move around the hospital through analysis of CCTV cameras in the hospital and insights on movement patterns. This will help the hospital to plan public areas and manage waiting times and hotspots.
“We’re proud to announce the switch-on of the UK’s first 5G-connected hospital – showing how next-generation technology can help create a smarter, modern healthcare service for everyone,” said Mike Smith, Large Enterprise & Public Sector Director at Virgin Media O2 Business. “Our aim is to map out the rollout of wireless and smart hospital connectivity across the NHS estate over the next three to five years. Trials like this are the embodiment of our mission to upgrade the UK, and a clear sign of the role we can play in helping to shape the NHS of the future.”
Stuart MacLellan, Acting Chief Information Officer at South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust, commented: “Exploring and using the latest technology supports our core strategic aim to deliver outstanding mental health care for people who use our services, their carers and families.”
