Four decades of change and evolution examined.

Phil Wade, director of Marketing at Static Systems Group, looks back at how bedhead services and trunking have developed over the past 40 years. Their development has, he says, been driven not only by increasingly stringent infection control criteria, the need for more attractive aesthetics, increased functionality, evolving communications technology, and the ability to adapt to meet changing needs, but equally by the growing part that clinicians and healthcare planners now play in the decision-making process for bedside layouts. He also looks forward to what we might expect to see in the future.

VoIP makes voice heard--functionality is up.

Phil Wade, sales and marketing director, and Mathew Wakelam, VoIP product manager, at alarm and communication specialist Static Systems Group, discuss wireless VoLP's potential in healthcare establishments and examine how, in particular, the technology can be successfully integrated with nurse call systems.

Systems' design must allow for change.

Having moved on from traditional nurse call systems, modern healthcare communications are no longer the province of a single user-group within the healthcare arena. To accommodate this change the traditional approach by suppliers is moving from a specific focus on technology to a broader interest in systems application. In this article, Phil Wade, sales director of Static Systems Group, explains the key factors that have affected this transition and how they are now paving the way for further improvements in patient care. The article is based on the views contained in his recent presentation to the IHEEM Engineering for Healthcare seminar that is to be repeated at Pinderfield Hospital, Wakefield, in October and The Royal Free Hospital, London, in December.