Free Industry Report
How 5G expansion impacts enterprise businesses of all sizes
Royal Papworth Hospital, located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, stands as a world-renowned centre for heart and lung care, serving 4,000 staff, patients, and visitors each day. Managed by the Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, this facility carries a 100-year legacy of medical breakthroughs, from pioneering surgeries to cutting-edge treatments. The Zinwave Active DAS, installed in April 2019, ensures seamless mobile communication throughout its wards, clinics, and support spaces, delivering critical communication, relied on by both hospital staff and visitors.
Challenge:
As a hospital poised to lead regional healthcare efforts, Royal Papworth demanded robust mobile coverage to keep its bustling facility connected. Staff need instant, dependable communication for coordinating patient care, whether scheduling procedures, consulting specialists, or responding to emergencies, while patients, often facing critical or prolonged conditions, rely on phone access to reach loved ones. Any service disruptions could delay urgent crash team responses or hinder emotional support; a need that became evident when critically ill patients arrived from London during Covid-19 in 2020.Solution:
Completed on April 18, 2019, Zinwave’s Active DAS connects to O2, Vodafone, and Three 3-sector base stations, providing comprehensive coverage tailored to the hospital’s unique layout and demands. Drawing inspiration from the successful system neighbouring Addenbrooke’s, Royal Papworth enhanced its setup with Crash Team Paging; a specialized feature that speeds up emergency alerts to rapid response teams, ensuring life-saving interventions aren’t delayed. This thoughtful integration reflects the hospital’s dedication to leveraging mobile technology for operational precision and compassionate patient care.Results:
The DAS keeps staff seamlessly connected, supporting everything from daily workflows to managing complex cases with precision. During Covid-19 in 2020, as leadership guided the regional response and critically ill patients were transferred from London to ease their burden, the system enabled flawless coordination across teams. A patient featured on BBC News praised Face Timing family as “A godsend,” underscoring its emotional lifeline. Later that year, O2 upgraded its 4G base stations to boost data capacity, and the DAS was adapted without requiring hardware changes, reinforcing its role as a steadfast pillar for both healthcare delivery and patient well-being.