QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL KINGS LYNN

Pagers that alert anxious parents when their child has come out of surgery are proving a success at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn. The innovative idea was developed by the hospital’s project management team and is also being used to help pregnant mothers at the Brancaster outpatients’ clinic. The Quiet Call pagers have been funded by the King’s Lynn Hospitals League of Friends, which last year donated £80,000 worth of equipment. Hospital chief executive Dorothy Hosein said: “Since its introduction, this simple device has already made a huge difference to parents who are desperate for news of their child. “The pager lets them know almost straightaway when the youngster is out of theatre and calls them back.” The pager system has already been used very successfully in the hospital’s fracture clinic by allowing families to move around before being called back for their appointment. A further 20 pagers have since been bought and divided between theatres for the hospital’s paediatric patients, and Brancaster outpatients. The system will be rolled out to other areas of the hospital. The pagers, which vibrate when alerted, can be used anywhere within the hospital and parts of its grounds.