NHS Hospital
Providing reliable mobile signal for theatre teams—so calls and paging work everywhere
Mobile signal survey + CelFi booster installation
The problem (the customer experience/challenge)
Mobile coverage dropped to near-zero in the operating theatre zone near the building core, meaning clinicians and support staff could lose calls mid-conversation and—more critically—miss app-based pager alerts because the paging app depended on mobile signal.
The site was a busy local NHS hospital (not named for confidentiality), with a complex footprint and dense internal construction typical of clinical environments. In practice, that meant parts of the building acted like a shield: external mobile signal could not reliably penetrate to the theatre area, particularly around the core.
The hospital needed a solution that improved real, usable service—not a theoretical RF improvement—while keeping disruption to clinical operations to an absolute minimum. Any works would have to be planned around a 24x7 environment, with close coordination across Facilities Management and IT.
What “good” looks like (outcomes)
- Staff can place and receive mobile calls in the theatre area without dropouts.
- Paging app alerts are reliably delivered, improving contactability for clinical teams.
- Improvement is validated through before/after survey measurements, not guesswork.
- Installation is delivered with minimal disruption to hospital operations.
Risk & Challenges
- 24x7 operational environment with limited access windows
- Sensitivity of clinical spaces: noise, downtime, and change control constraints
- Dense construction and internal partitions affecting signal propagation
- Coordination required between Facilities Management and IT to reduce risk
