www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47332415
I came across this article, when was the last time any here used a fax machine or a pager? Don't think I've ever had a pager, last used a fax about 10 years ago.
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I've worked in the NHS for 33 years at the same Trust and have used pagers as part of my acute on-calls..... the guy doesn't know what he's talking about!
So we've got a simple reliable system that's worked for years and he wants to drop it in favour of users own mobile phones and an app!
Pagers work! the only issue I've had with them are a low battery and then they are just a single AA, imagine if you forgot to charge your phone before work, you and your patients would be stuffed, add into that poor coverage (I don't get a reasonable mobile signal in the ward block I'm in), users would be on different providers each offering varying coverage or outages.
As for Faxes, yes we still use them but until ALL GP surgeries have an alternative way of sending patient documents into a hospital he can't just get rid of them. Scanning to email sounds fine but then you rely on having an email address that can be accessed by all members of a team(say 8 out of 10 of your team are bank or agency so won't have access to your Trusts NHS mail or have been added to your generic email group), believe me it sounds easy but in practice in a large busy hospital it's not that simple compared to a fax.
I'm sure I heard about this six months ago, nothing has moved on from then, I think he thinks that if he just keeps saying it the facts will some how change.
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I agree, the pagers need to stay - and I am an avid user of the latest technology!
My eldest is a junior doctor (1.5 years in) and relies on them. I'm told they are much more reliable in the depths of the hospital than her smart phone and she can tell an instance that she is being paged, rather than a general buzz on a phone, open the numerous apps to see whether its a text, etc. It works even in the deepest bowels of the hospital where mobiles often do no.
With the pager she knows she needs to get to the nearest house phone and see where the crash is.
The loss of fax machines isn't all that good either. They would take a fax print to where it was needed almost instantly. Now, the email or message comes through and needs to be printed off which adds another step in the process.
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I had a voice pager at work for a while in the nineties because I was a fire/emergency warden for my floor. It was pretty well useless as by the time I'd realised I was being paged I'd missed half the mumbled message. Only other time I'd hear it would be when the battery was low and it started whistling.
Last time I used a fax was just before I left the Civil Service. Quango Chairman 1 lived in middle of nowhere and (a) couldn't get broadband for a long time, just dial up and (b) wasn't much good with computers. We used the fax to send urgent papers to him. Several of us had additional phone numbers to route fax straight to our PC.
Chairman 2 lived in a Surrey town, had broadband and was proficient with IT. We still continued to use the fax for one thing. IT could not provide us with a simple desktop scanner - the sort you pick up in Curry's for under a hundred quid. The only scanning solution was a 'multi-function device' (MFD) integrated with the photocopier and networked. Apart from being horrendously expensive it would have required additional network cabling. Instead we used the fax to PC solution as above.....
Rudedog's account of why NHS is still such a big user of fax/pager is instructive and shows up the Ministerial posturing over news that NHS is a big purchaser of fax machines up for the posturing it is.
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I wonder what hospitals around the world use?
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>> I wonder what hospitals around the world use?
I'd suspect pagers are still pretty widespread; simple proven tech that does the job.
NHS reliance on fax seems more of a structural issue. GP surgeries are independent contractors and managing them is like herding cats. If the GPs get on board with new tech there's still a problem because of reliance on bank/agency staff.
If my experience in Civil Service is anything to go by contracted IT adds another layer of delay when trying to add new users.
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I think the cost of pagers is £6.6m, that doesn't seem that much. I'd guess a replacement would cost more. I suppose the main issue would be if they isn't anyone left making or repairing them.
Not sure if that particular issue is coming up soon?
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Other things I've thought about...
This 100% relies on each doctor having a mobile phone, OK most young doctors do but I know a load of older consultants who still have very basic non-smart phones, I bet the app won't work on these.
Generally while in surgery surgeons leave their pagers on the side for us to answer if they go off and ring the extension shown, now how many will want one of us going into their personal phone (which could be locked) to find the message?
When I want to contact a member of a team for queries over treatment plans/follow-ups I can just do this from any phone using the bleep system (no involvement of our switchboard) how would the app work? I guess I would have to hold on while switchboard answers (maybe dozens of other staff doing the same thing at the same time) then they look up the teams contact and type in the message... doesn't sound very efficient or maybe I have to logon to the app via a hospital PC great unless you are an agency worker with no trust IT account.
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There was a trust that had tried using the app, and said worked. Whether it actually did is another matter, perhaps if anyone could get info on that trial it might bring some illumination.
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>> when was the last time any here used a fax machine
I used the Fax machine at work a couple of weeks ago to send some documents (approx. 12 pages) to the DVLA to renew my driving licence. Saved a few pennies on postage (and delays getting there), as well as saving time having to scan them to a PDF file before emailing them.
The work fax machine still gets used on a daily basis for proper work purposes too ;)
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There is an investment bank I use in New York which will accept a fax but not an email.
Irritating on the once or twice per year they want a signature.
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>> Is telex still used?
A military version is still in use, tty over radio in marine use still exists, but commercially, No.
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Isn't the distress communication for ships from Inmarsat a type of telex?
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The Signal cln sometime before the telex pd
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Interesting how the restricted character set of morse/telex still pervades modern life and communication methods.
A Notam (notice to airmen) has been issued over the current troubles in Kashmir, on twitter
twitter.com/AirportPakistan/status/1100668226386649089
So that's telex format published on cloud technology.
Just for amusement, here is a typical NOTAM, try and decode this without resorting to wikigoogle
A1234/06 NOTAMR A1212/06
Q)EGTT/QMXLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5129N00028W005
A)EGLL
B)0609050500
C)0704300500
E)DUE WIP TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'. TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B' AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT. CTN ADZ
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EGLL is Heathrow. WIP is work in progress TWY is taxiway Two taxiways are closed. A, B, F and R are probably hold points between which they're closed. There's Green Centreline and Blue edge lighting involved.
The rest of it (eg dates etc) would need Google.
I do though have advantage of being a plane spotter/watcher of 45+ years standing.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 27 Feb 19 at 11:05
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Lamson tubes are very very old tec.
They can deliver a sample to the lab in seconds. Replace with what?
Josiah Latimer Clark ....in 1853 installed a 220-yard (200 m) pneumatic system between the London Stock Exchange in Threadneedle Street, London, and the offices of the Electric Telegraph Company in Lothbury
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outdated technology - Rudedog
