Wireless infrastructure: Building guidance for health and care organisation

The Future Connectivity Programme’s Connectivity Hub produces, sources and shares expert technical knowledge to support the NHS to plan and implement the right connectivity for local needs.

To target and prioritise the right blend of system knowledge and expert independent advice, we engage with health and care organisations, directly and through surveys, to understand their connectivity challenges and procure and publish externally independent commissioned reports into priority topics.

This report was produced following the selection of a supplier via an open tender procurement process run according to PCR2015 during 2022. Under the terms of the contract between NHS England and the supplier in question, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the report and any associated material sits solely with NHS England who reserve the right to adapt and amend the published version of the report.

Any enquiries on the content of the report should be directed to the NHS England Future Connectivity Programme [email protected].

The following content is taken from an independent report into wireless infrastructure in the NHS, commissioned by the Future Connectivity Programme and produced by WM5G. 

These web pages have been adapted from the full report, which can be found on the Future Connectivity FutureNHS workspace at Wireless Infrastructure Building Guidance for Health and Care Organisations.

The content is 'supplier agnostic' which means we do not endorse any specific companies, innovations, or approaches. Any mention of, or link to, a specific supplier or product is not an endorsement from the Connectivity Hub or NHS England and is for illustrative purposes only.  

For clarity any recommendations made in this report are those of the report author and do not necessarily represent an endorsement, policy, or requirement from NHS England.

This guidance was reviewed and updated in February 2025. Any reference made to policies, standards and regulations were believed accurate at the time of writing. It is the responsibility of the reader to check that any application of this guidance conforms to the latest relevant regulatory standards, policies and requirements.

The terms 'mobile connectivity' and 'cellular connectivity' have the same meaning and are sometimes used interchangeably. This guidance uses the term 'mobile connectivity' throughout.

This report provides guidance for those responsible for the construction, or major refurbishment, of a hospital or other health and care setting.

Addressing wireless communication requirements at the earliest possible stage will help avoid additional costs, added effort, more complex implementations, and delays to the overall construction project.

This principle applies equally to GP surgeries, care homes, community health centres and major hospitals.

The guidance will describe in simple terms:

• why today’s hospitals and other health and care settings need to consider their requirements for wireless telecommunication network coverage
• the types of wireless networks that might be needed (and other supporting digital connectivity)
• the factors that impact wireless network coverage and that should be considered in any new build or major refurbishment project, such as layout and construction materials
• when and how to consider these factors
• the benefits of doing so

For some health and care settings, the requirement for wireless telecommunication network coverage may be simply to allow external network coverage (such as outdoor commercial 4G and 5G networks provided by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to penetrate inside the building.

For example, when medical equipment or clinical and administrative devices need a commercial 4G signal to send and receive data, or when patients need to use their personal smart phone to contact relatives or for entertainment.

For other health and care settings, the requirement for wireless telecommunication network coverage may be more complex. Today’s hospitals require almost total wireless telecommunication network coverage to support existing and future use cases. Physicians, clinicians, nurses and patients must be within range of wireless networks throughout the hospital building.

However, the vast majority of hospitals were designed and constructed decades ago, when wireless network coverage was simply not a consideration. Consequently, most legacy hospitals feature layouts that limit coverage, they include areas that are difficult and costly to reach, and they were built from materials that limit, block, or reflect signals, and they contain medical devices that produce interference.

This report's purpose is to support some of the objectives set out in the NHS Long Term Plan specifically regarding digital transformation.

We also seek to provide as much support and guidance to Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) for them to develop mid to long term plans that deliver best possible care to their local populations whilst ensuring that unnecessary costs are avoided where possible.

In September 2019 the Secretary of State announced a new Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP). The HIP recognises the need for digital infrastructure and networks to be integrated into the fabric of these new health and social care sites and refurbishments. It says “The NHS’ infrastructure is not just about ‘bricks and mortar’ – it is also about the digital technologies and data sharing capabilities that are needed to provide better care to the public, in a way that is strategic and joined up with estates planning.”