The government will lift the ban on the use of mobile
phones in hospitals this spring, the BBC reports.
Up to now, mobile phones have been banned from hospitals because
of fears they could interfere with medical equipment.
But the
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA) said last year that mobile use should only be
restricted where specialist equipment was used. And the
government now says NHS trusts themselves will be able to
formulate their own mobile phone strategies for patients and
staff.
The government is expected to recommend that mobiles should not
be used near critical medical equipment, such as that found in
intensive care and baby monitoring units.
News of the government’s position comes soon after research by a
US hospital group showed that mobile phones posed no threat to
hospital equipment. The Mayo Clinic said its tests showed that
normal use of mobile phones caused no interference with patient
care equipment.
Mayo conducted 300 interference tests run over five months,
including turning mobiles on and off near medical kit, and reported
no trouble with the equipment. But the clinic did report potential
interference problems between CD players and electrocardiographic
(ECG) devices, and between shop entrance alarms and people fitted
with pacemakers and defibrillators.
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