Bedside TVs Score High with Southend

Southend Hospital patients with football fever will have a remedy within easy reach during the World Cup, thanks to the Premier Bedside TVs.

More than 450 sets, complete with individual phones and internet access, have now been installed around the wards and, even before the first kick, are proving a big hit with patients. There is a special World Cup button to ensure that fans are kept up-to-date with what’s on where.

Patients who are only in hospital for a short time can just pay £1 for two hours of the action, rather than for a whole day’s viewing, and you don’t have to be football-crazy to be entertained from your bedside. Patients are delighted they don’t have to miss an episode of their favourite soap, whilst six new movies – King Kong, Pride and Prejudice, Wallace and Gromit, Munich, The Constant Gardener and Terminal – have just been added to the film menu.

There is also a “free to view” option where patients can find the hospital’s welcome video as well as the hospital information channel with useful practical information to make their stay more comfortable.

One patient on Dowsett ward said: “The system is great for taking your mind off being in hospital. The free TV previews are good and at appropriate times, and the phone gives you a connection to the outside world and keeps you in touch with family and friends for just 10p per minute”.

Another patient, on Southbourne ward, added: “The free children’s channels are useful for keeping my grand-daughter entertained when she comes in to visit me.” And a renal unit patient praised the “really good value”, adding: “It is much better than the large TVs we used to have suspended from the ceiling. A good way to fill a usually very boring few hours.”

Linda Webb, general manager in facilities, said: “We are delighted the sets have been so well received and that, with World Cup fever gripping a huge proportion of the population, we can offer patients a slice of the action while they are in our care.”