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JAOtech have announced that its Smart Terminals have been installed at over 21 bedsides in Sheffield Children’s Hospital to provide free entertainment, communication and education to patients, and enable medical staff instant access to information, with a 14 month timetable to roll out installation of over 100 further units.
The 17-inch Obie Smart Terminals from JAOtech are specifically designed for the hygienic and noise-free environment of a hospital ward and able to deliver a comprehensive range of free services to the patients’ bedside. They support the standard offering of radio, TV, internet, and telephony, but also computing facilities and an education service to ensure that essential learning is available to long-term patients, so they do not fall behind on schooling and can develop their skills. The terminals will also allow medical staff to access up-to-date private medical records, x-rays and scans at the bedside.
Russell Banks, Head of IT at Sheffield’s Children NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are committed to developing the services we offer to enhance our patients’ care, which in turn also benefits their families and our staff. We required a flexible, professional looking solution with special features to fit in with the important requirements of our hospitals wards and very special users and JAOtech’s Smart Terminals achieved the functionality, performance and durability needed in our demanding environment.”
“Our Smart Terminals can be used in numerous applications, but hospital environments can be the most demanding,” said Graham Grover, Director, JAOtech. “We were able to provide a solution which is not only specifically designed to meet the requirements of hygienic conditions by using a wipe down design, but can also come into contact with, and be cleaned using conventional hospital detergents and sterilising agents.”
Operating securely through the hospitals local area network, the services are free of charge to patients, families and friends as funding is being provided by the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity. The terminals use wipe-down anti-bacterial plastics and are sealed front and back to IP65 and IP64 rating, which protects completely against dust and a low to high pressure of water respectively. Compact and noiseless terminals are achieved by an innovative design and creative heat dissipation requiring no cooling fans. A high resolution and thin bezel maximises the interactive user’s experience.
