Hi guys, not sure where to start this thread but as it does involve TV equipment, I though I would put it here so apologies in advance if it seems a bit irreleveant.

Earlier on today, I visited my mum in Hospital. She was showing me this kind of Flat Panel TV thing with a phone and remote that combines as a keyboard. It's a service in Hospitals called PatientLine. Basically, you can make phonecalls, use the net and watch TV all from your hospital bed. Sounds kinda funky huh? Thing is, it costs £10 to watch BBC1 & 2, ITV1, Ch4 & 5, UKTV Gold, Bravo, TCM, Cartoon Network & Toonami (might be a couple more but that's all I can remember)... for THREE DAYS!

I'm not happy about that because I think it's kind of sickening that the doctors & nurses and us lot can go home and watch TV for Free or subscribe and pay £7.99 - £41 (or whatever) for a whole month of TV. OK, yeah, some of those channels are Pay TV and yes, I can understand having to pay for those... but why can't they watch the standard 5 channels for free? Paying for the phone as if you were using a mobile (topping up) sounds fair enough to me as you can call the patient directly through an extension, But I can't help but feel sorry for my mum having to pay £10 just so she can watch TV for 3 days, I think it's kind of cruel. Having the 5 channels and an optional £10 (I do believe £5 & £3.50 options are available) phone card so she can make calls sounds fair enough. That said however, you do get 20p credit for calls, 1 hour breakfast TV, & a 30 minute news bulletin all free per day... but that's kind of patronising especially as my mum is bed ridden. Kinda feel guilty that I can get Sky for less than £20 a month where that would get my mum just 6 days.

Sorry for my little rant but I guess if you think TopUp TV is bad value for money, just think about the raw deal hospital patients are getting!

My dad was complaining a bit about the PatientLine console the last time he was in hospital - but mainly because it wasn't working properly.

I think it is okay. The service doesn't cost the hospitals anything, But they don't get a cut of the profits either - it's just an option for the patient.

It is much better for bed-bound patients if they have a phone nearby. The radio service is free - and no longer paid for by the hospital.

If you find yourself in hospital for a few days then paying two or three pounds a day (it varies) isn't too much, considering that you don't have to pay for your meals (or visits to the pub!)

I don't think the NHS should subsidise Patientline to offer the sevices free - that would mean less money for treatment.

Regards,
diablo

I was in hospital for three weeks, and would have killed for something like that.

If it wasn't for my iPod, I would have gone insane.

Patient Power is a good thing for Hospitals. All major hospitals will be required to have some form of patient bedside unit with the next few years.

As a hospital radio broadcaster they mean we have a clear stereo feed to each and every bed with on screen adverts for the station as well.

Well, it's not all bad. You can get radio free at all times but it's just the price that gets me. If you're going to be in Hospital for a long time, then it can be a financial nightmare!

Why is £3 a day considered a high price?
I would spend that on the WRVS trolley each day.

I'm a hospital radio person too. I think PatientLine is a little complicated for a lot of patients, every time I go round to get requests I will get 4/10 patients ask me how to use it as there are no instructions how to use it and they all seem shocked when I tell them that the radio is free!

Also, when PatientLine was implemented in late 2003, we were off air as the old 'pipe line' thing broke and the people at PatientLine had failed to hook us into the system properly. Our system is sent up to the system using a 100V line. The techs at PatientLine took three attempts (in the space of about 4 months) to get us hooked up correctly with help from our own engineer as they didn't understand fully how this 100V Line system worked (they just needed a step-down device).

How do you get adverts on PatientLine? I would be very interested as to how you can do this. We desparately need some sort of ads for our station!

Well, some of these patients are on low incomes and you have to pay to get 5 channels which are free anyway. As for patients being shocked to hear that Radio is free of charge, sometimes so are the visitors! (Me, for example) I just put myself in the shoes of a patient and discovered that finding out that you get free radio makes you feel oh so very privileged, then you walk out into the real world and discover that Radio & Digital Terestrial offering 30+ Channels are all free anyway... Kinda makes me feel a little sad for hospital patients.

I think that there should be a lower charge (say £2 a week) to get the standard 5 analogue channels and Radio. Does that sound a little too farflung?

Stuff that, I think the 5 terrestrial channels should be free to view.

(Athough my show would still clash with Coronation Street, damn you ITV!!)

The one in Oxford only charging for the web and game and the phone going out.

Are people forgetting that Patientline isn't run by the hospitals or a charity, but by a private company.

I don't think £10 for three days is too much to ask.

I think they should have the 5 channels and radio stations free.

You can receive them free off the air if you bring your own gear (although I doubt the staff would be happy), so why should you pay £10 to receive them for three days!

I know, it's kinda ridiculous really. I could take in her portable tv from her room but with all the MRSA control going on, they might not like it.

I do realise that it costs money to provide which is why I suggested the small weekly fee. But for that fee I think they should also give you some phone credit. It's also a bit extortianate to call the patient at 49p a minute peak and 39p off peak, it's a bit patronising.

We contacted the onsite Patient Line Manager (not an easy task) and they advised how to do it (just a simple JPG advert that they put on the system).

If i remember rightly it cost almost over £500,000 per hospital to install the system plus the ongoing cost of staff on site so they have to make the money back somehow, but we do tell most people that the radio is free and help to tune them into out service of course!

I wasn't allowed a Freeview box in my room, as it hadn't been checked by a hospital electrician (as all electrical items must be)

So if I went into hosptial, I could either get my Box, TV, Hi-Fi and PC PAT tested either by the technician at college or the engineer at our hospital radio studio and use it on the ward!

Wicked! (Unlikely though!)

I would insist on a freeview box and TV though because I can't stand those TFT screens and you have to watch TV with that stupid bar at the bottom of the screen.

But would you be able to get a decent enough signal with a set top aerial?

Probably, you get a pretty strong signal from the Lancaster relay around that area.

Have used the patientline thing a couple of times. Was better when ti had Sky One and Sky Movies.

It's just another element of choice for the patient, isn't it... they don't have to use the service if they don't want to. Most hospitals have TV sets in the day-room showing the 5 terrestrial channels for free, coin operated payphones etc. I don't know what channels Patientline make have available but for £10 for 3 days I'd want Sky1 at least! Perhaps it should be reduced price for bed-bound patients who cannot access the free TV sets though.

When I was in hospital earlier this year most of the patients had mains-powered personal stereos and mobile phone chargers. I think official policy was that they had to be electrically checked but nobody bothered policing it because the engineers had better things to do!

As far as I know, there are no channels from SKY at all. My mum is currently bed bound as she doesen't have her wheelchair so yeah, a reduced price might be good. It is a choice, but if you had nothing better to do but stare at it all the time it can be quite teasing!

Apart from the price, I think it's a good Idea.

right my 1st post!
patientline is a good idea in theory but as i found out it is a wolf in sheeps clothing!
why? i hear you ask well let me tell you!
back in feb of this year two members of my family had to go into hospital. Now were i was living at the time i was unable to visit
them more than once a week.(due to lack of transport) Anyway i was told by a nurse i could ring my family members on the "patientline" service that had just been installed in the hospital that they were in
great i thought i can ring my family! i would speek to them for 15mins every morning and evening to see how they are doing
(remember this is before they gave you the price of the when you ring) so i was unaware of the cost of the calls i was making untill i got the phone bill for £540! i was shocked to say the least!
recantly a mate of mine went into hospital so i rang the line again
only to her a lady telling me how much it cost a min! nedless to say i was shocked!

Yeah, at 49p a minute peak times & 39p off peak, it's great value for money!*

It's much cheaper for them to call you I find.

*Did I mention I seen a pig flying earlier?

You should just ask for the DECT cordless phone that some wards have and ask to use that for a couple of minutes.

P.S. Can you make internal calls on patientline (using extn. numbers?).

I'm not sure, I don't think you can, though you can call out so maybe you can in a sense