Part of Networks and connectivity standards
Wireless at NHS sites standards
Standards your sites should meet on wireless connectivity including Wi-Fi and cellular, network performance, coverage, management and security.
5.1 NHS organisations should implement modern, secure and well‑managed Wi‑Fi services using recognised best practices
Importance of meeting the standard
Wireless connectivity via Wi-Fi is a critical dependency for modern NHS services. It supports clinical systems, operational workflows, visiting healthcare professionals, patients, and a growing range of connected medical and non‑medical devices.
Using modern Wi‑Fi standards and established wireless best practices ensures that networks are capable, resilient and secure, while also being easier to operate, support and scale. A well‑designed and consistently implemented Wi‑Fi service helps NHS organisations to:
- support high device density and concurrent usage across diverse user groups and use cases
- enable real‑time and latency‑sensitive services such as voice, video, clinical applications, IoT and location‑based services
- reduce security risk through modern protocols and consistent configuration
- improve reliability, usability and roaming experience for staff across sites
- simplify operational management and troubleshooting of wireless services
Wi‑Fi services should be delivered over a shared physical infrastructure wherever practicable, using logical separation and policy‑based controls to meet differing clinical, operational and security requirements.
When to meet the standard
- deploying new Wi‑Fi networks or services
- upgrading underperforming or unsupported wireless infrastructure
- introducing new user or device types that depend on Wi‑Fi connectivity
- refreshing, simplifying or retiring existing Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs)
- changing authentication approaches or wireless architecture
- aligning local wireless services with organisational or national connectivity standards
How to meet the standard
- uses current, standards‑based wireless technologies with clear upgrade paths
- is designed to support the required capacity, coverage, performance and reliability for all intended users and devices
- applies consistent wireless design, configuration and naming practices across sites
- minimises complexity by removing unnecessary SSIDs, which will reduce interference and operational risk, uses logical separation, policy and quality‑of‑service controls rather than physical segregation
- aligns with wider network, security, identity and roaming strategies
Wireless services should be designed, documented and operated as a core part of the organisation’s network estate, rather than isolated or site‑specific implementations.
Technical requirements to meet the standard
- Wi‑Fi networks use the latest Wi‑Fi standards approved by the Wi‑Fi Alliance, appropriate to the environment and use case
- access points, controllers and management platforms are supported and kept up to date
- network interface speeds of access points and upstream infrastructure are sufficient to meet demand
- SSID naming conventions are consistent, simple and recognisable across sites
- nationally agreed SSID naming conventions (for example, NHS Wi‑Fi, govroam, GovWifi) are followed
- SSIDs clearly differentiate between service types (for example, staff, clinical or IoT, visitor or public access)
- unnecessary variation and proliferation of SSIDs is avoided
- SSID configuration and lifecycle management is controlled through central wireless management tooling
Aligns to the following DSPT principles:
| Principle | How it supports |
|---|---|
| System security | Modern Wi‑Fi standards reduce exposure to legacy vulnerabilities, and standards‑compliant platforms support secure, hardened configurations. |
| Identity and access control |
Consistent SSID naming helps users reliably identify authorised networks, reducing the risk of accidental connection to unsafe or spoofed networks. Standardised naming supports clear application of authentication policies and reduces errors in application of access across user groups. |
5.2 NHS organisations should have a fully functional signal from the Wi-Fi network throughout buildings and externally where required
Importance of meeting the standard
Wi-Fi connectivity on NHS sites must provide a consistent baseline coverage, capacity and capability. It should be sufficient to support clinical, operational and administrative use across all occupied areas, indoors and outdoors, based on the user types and services offered at the site. This baseline should accommodate concurrent use by your staff, visiting healthcare staff, public and managed clinical devices. It must deliver a reliable user experience and quality of service.
Where healthcare delivery is dependent on Wi-Fi connectivity, enhanced capability must be provided proportionate to clinical risk, environmental variables and operational complexity. This includes, where required, support for high density usage, seamless mobility, real-time applications, connectivity for medical devices, and resilience appropriate to the clinical impact of service degradation or loss. Wi-Fi networks in these environments must be designed, assured and monitored as a clinical service.
These capabilities support implementation of emerging technologies including Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) which are reliant on continuous, high‑quality wireless connectivity to support real‑time clinical workflows.
When to meet the standard
- you need to upgrade an underperforming or unsupported solution
- carrying out digital refresh programmes, building works or major wireless modernisation
How to meet the standard
You should have Wi-Fi access points installed across your site based on a comprehensive Wi-Fi survey and design. A Wi-Fi survey helps determine how many access points are needed and where they should be placed, based on the site's number of users, rooms capacity, occupancy levels and types of services (such as asset tracking and IoT) in use.
Further information is available in our Wi-Fi metrics and measures report.
Technical requirements to meet the standard
Ensure there are enough access points to provide Wi‑Fi coverage in each area, based on the planned occupation level for all user and device types. This is to support simultaneous use without reducing the performance.
You should ensure that your Wi-Fi provider designs a solution that fully meets your needs. This should include using a full wireless survey as part of initial planning and ensuring that impact from medical equipment (such as radiology), building construction and other networks are considered.
Aligns to the following DSPT principles:
| Principle | How it supports |
|---|---|
| Resilient networks and systems | Reliable Wi‑Fi coverage ensures essential clinical and operational services remain available across all required areas of the estate. |
| Security monitoring | Continuous coverage enables meaningful wireless performance and health monitoring, improving detection of degradation and outages. |
5.3 NHS organisations should have reliable indoor cellular coverage in critical areas
Importance of meeting the standard
Indoor cellular connectivity is an important component of connectivity for critical areas of healthcare delivery. It provides seamless and automatic connectivity for any mobile phone user. It provides resilience where Wi-Fi may be unavailable or degraded and supports SMS messaging. Wi-Fi calling does not provide a consistent substitute for cellular voice and SMS services and must not be relied upon as the sole means of providing indoor mobile connectivity in clinically or operationally critical areas. However, cellular coverage provided by mobile network operators (MNOs) is variable indoors and cannot be assumed to meet clinical or operational needs across NHS estates.
When to meet the standard
- cellular connectivity is required to support staff and patients’ communications assessing resilience or continuity of connectivity for critical services or areas of your site
- delivering new buildings, refurbishments or estate changes that may impact indoor connectivity
How to meet the standard
You should assess indoor cellular coverage for all UK MNOs across critical areas and understand how well it supports the user groups and services that depend on it.
Where publicly available MNO coverage does not meet operational or clinical needs, NHS organisations should work with indoor coverage suppliers to deploy appropriate neutral host solutions to improve coverage in critical areas. These solutions should complement Wi-Fi networks.
Technical requirements to meet the standard
To meet this standard, NHS organisations should ensure that indoor cellular coverage is measured and assessed for all MNOs where required for staff and public.
Coverage assessments should consider signal strength and quality, consistency and suitability for reliable access to voice and messaging services as a minimum.
Indoor cellular solutions (where required) should support all MNOs wherever practicable. Coverage should be prioritised in areas where cellular connectivity is operationally or clinically critical, such as emergency departments, urgent care areas and ambulance bays. Indoor cellular solutions may include distributed antenna systems (DAS), small cells, boosters or other in-building technologies appropriate to the site and clinical context.
Aligns to the following DSPT principles:
| Principle | How it supports |
|---|---|
| Resilient networks and systems | Provides an alternative communications path and reduces dependency on Wi‑Fi connectivity and risk of single point of failure. |
Last edited: 6 August 2026 1:33 pm