(9th June 2016) As part of its ongoing commitment to technological innovation and ensuring the best experience for all patients, Tallaght Hospital has launched public WiFi which is safe for families and free for all to use. The new WiFi, service utilises the existing WiFi infrastructure already in place with the addition of a new Internet gateway service provided by eir Business. The service is accredited by Friendly WiFi, meaning content that is not family friendly is filtered out. Tallaght Hospital is the first hospital in Ireland to get this accreditation.
Following a competitive process, eir Business was chosen as the provider of the new public Internet gateway service. Tallaght Hospital, eir Business and Friendly WiFi are working together to ensure that patients at Tallaght Hospital can browse online without the risk of coming across indecent images, websites known to the Internet Watch Foundation or pornography. Friendly WiFi accredits services that it deems sufficiently child-friendly and marks them with a clearly identifiable symbol, indicating its independent approval.
Tallaght Hospital’s installation of free public WiFi demonstrates its commitment to employing modern solutions and methods in patient care in order to ensure that patients are given the best treatment possible. Previous examples of technological innovations include employment of the LUCY robotic technology and extensive patient surveys for service development. While Tallaght Hospital is leading the way in terms of the provision of WiFi in hospitals, it is also the very first organisation in the entire scheme to incorporate free public WiFi on its campus.
David Wall, Head of ICT, Tallaght Hospital, said, “At Tallaght Hospital we always strive to ensure the highest standards of patient care. Part of this process involves ensuring that we make use of technological developments to innovate and improve the care experience. The installation of public WiFi that is both safe and free to use is part of this process. Our ethos is all about people caring for people and we want to make sure that patients who come to Tallaght Hospital for whatever reason, experience the highest standards of care possible and the most positive of treatments.”
Mike Davis, a spokesperson for Friendly WiFi, said “Friendly WiFi ensures that public WiFi is reliably family friendly. Access to online communication is a necessity in the twenty-first century and we are proud to provide a service that ensures, through one easy-to-understand symbol, that parents can trust their child is safer when surfing online. Tallaght Hospital has been brilliant to work with and it is great to see accredited Friendly WiFi being rolled out for the first time in an Irish Hospital. Indeed it is the first time we, as an organisation have worked with a healthcare facility; I think it demonstrates Tallaght Hospital’s commitment to innovation and technological advancement to ensure the best conditions for its patients.”
Bill Archer, Managing Director, eir Business said “We are delighted to provide secure, high-speed WiFi access to the thousands of families and patients passing through Tallaght Hospital each year. Our new WiFi solution involves the installation of components such as a 200Mb ultrafast broadband connection; a content filtering solution; a business grade router and authentication user access via splash screens.
