Free Wi-Fi

Why guest Wi-Fi?

The Department of Health has made a commitment for free Wi-Fi to be available in all NHS buildings by 2020. Increasingly, the expectation of our patients and visitors will be that Wi-Fi will be freely available across NHS facilities. Here at CFT we will be utilising the existing Wi-Fi network infrastructure to facilitate guest Wi-Fi. Priority for Wi-Fi use is given to Trust business and clinical systems, therefore at busy times the guest Wi-Fi may suffer from slow performance.

How will I know if the site where I work has been enabled for guest Wi-Fi ?

We will be turning on guest Wi-Fi across all Trust sites where patient care takes place, with priority being given to sites that have inpatient facilities. However, there may be some exceptions where current network links are too small. If guest Wi-Fi is available at your site it will show in the available wireless connections with the name NHS-guest.

How do patients and visitors connect to guest Wi-Fi ?

Patients and visitors will need to select NHS-guest from the wireless networks available via the Wi-Fi settings on their own device. This will bring up the terms and conditions page, an email address will need to be submitted before the conditions can be accepted. The email address will not be used for any purpose other than to identify and investigate usage should a complaint or breach of the terms and conditions occur. Connections are limited to 2-hour sessions; if connected then users will not be logged out. However if navigating to a different site or page then users will be represented with the terms and conditions and login page.

How will internet content be controlled?

Certain phrases and words will automatically be blocked by our network. These will be searches that are deemed inappropriate and likely contain inflammatory or offensive content. These are the same filters applied to staff when using the internet at work or from a corporate device.

What happens if people can’t connect?

Guest Wi-Fi is supplied on an as available basis. This means that there are no guarantees on connectivity or performance.